Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Heavy toll of the Cape infernos
Province counts cost of blazes with farms, flora and fauna devastated
PEOPLE’S lives have been left in tatters in the aftermath of the fires which destroyed several boland farms earlier this year.when Weekend Argus visited several affected farms in Paarl this week, there were no signs of rebuilding.
Augusta Kleinbosch Guest Farm has given its 13 employees notice until the end on March.
Rachel Juries, 50, who has lived and worked at the guest house for 18 years, said this was the worst year for fires she had experienced.
“The fires were extremely bad this year, worse than last year, and because of (the fires), we have lost our jobs.”
Juries said she was unsure if the German owners of the farm intended rebuilding the property and reopen the guesthouse.
“The owners said they are not sure, but if they do rebuild, it will be after four or five years,” she said.
Berenice Papier, 34, who worked on the farm with her husband said: “This year has been the worst. The main house, restaurant, the old historic house and one room were burnt down. Previously, we had fires on the mountains, but they weren’t that bad. This year there were fires every week.”
The mother-of-three added: “The manager of the guesthouse said they were still waiting for the insurance. I am not sure when they are going to rebuild or if they are going to rebuild.”
Manager Francois du Toit could not disclose the cost of the damages, but said it would be a lengthy process to rebuild the damaged structures as “two of the burnt buildings are historical buildings and therefore cannot simply be demolished and rebuilt.
“Some research is needed, which makes this a lengthy exercise. A decision on the future of the farm can only be made once all the figures are in.
“All operations have in the meantime been terminated, it could be for two years.” Professor Brian van Wilgen of the Centre for Invasion Biol- ogy Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University said the impact of the fires on fauna and flora “should normally not be something to worry about”, but there increase in the number of fires has given ecologists cause for concern.
He explained that local fynbos has adapted to survive fires, “and needs fire from time to time. So it is perfectly normal and acceptable for the vegetation to burn, but there are a number of caveats”.
The professor said that wildfires have become far more frequent and this “can eliminate important elements of the vegetation, like proteas that need time to mature and set seed between fires.
“Animals and birds are driven out of burnt areas. Under historic conditions, they would have moved to unburnt areas, and back again when the vegetation recovered.
“However, the landscape is now fragmented by housing developments, vineyards, plantations and wheat, and wild animals often have nowhere to go.
“Given these factors, ecologists are becoming increasingly concerned about the ability of the Cape flora and fauna to persist in the long term”.
A staggering R11 million was used by Cape Winelands Municipality this year alone to tackle fires which burnt more than 15 000 hectares.
Dannie Wilds, Cape Winelands chief fire officer Asaid this year the R11m was spent on aerial support and ground firefighting contract crews.
“The fire services attended to 730 fires since November 1 2016, which include a number of fires which ravaged large areas of fynbos, timber plantations and agricultural land. The most destructive were in the vicinity of Tulbagh/ Witzenberg Valley, Slanghoek, Paarl, Wellington and Du Toitskloof.”
Working on Fire reported that the province has been hit by more than 40 wildfires this year, and 50 in 2016.
Johann Davids, chief officer
‘Previously, we
at Cape Nature and Working on Fire at the Limietberg base in Paarl, said that in January, they had to battle eight massive fires daily, and firefighters had to be deployed from the Free State and the Eastern Cape to assist.
“This year we started on New Year’s Day and worked the whole month through ( in January). This year was very hectic, we had major fires, a lot of hectares burnt down.”
Bronwynne Jooste, spokesperson for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Alan Winde, said: “We will release an update next week.
“The final assessment of the damage to the agriculture sector should be completed in the next few weeks.”
andrew.robertson@inl.co.za