Enhanced partnerships since 2000 helped limit fire damage last week

CONSIDERING the images of damage to parts of the Cape Town South Peninsula caused by wildfires, it could be assumed it doesn’t get any worse. But it certainly could have been worse.

Fifteen years ago, the Table Mountain chain burnt – the fire ripping through 8 000ha of land, damaging and razing over 80 structures in its path. Had it not been for a change in wind strength and direction, the magnitude of the damage could have been considerably greater.

Back then, firefighting capabilities were limited, with no emergency plans in place to deal with the scourge of veld and forest fires that cost the economy billions of rand annually.

Personnel training and co-ordination was poor, and equipment under-resourced. For instance, the radios of the different agencies didn’t even work, or were on differing frequencies.

Today, our ability to contain fires has been significantly enhanced, thanks to partnerships.

In this case, between the Department of Environmental Affairs, the South African National Parks (SANParks), the provincial government, the City of Cape Town and the Fire Protection Associations, supported by a significant volunteer capacity. Working together, we have managed to safeguard the urban edges of the Table Mountain chain.

Landowners have also played their part, ensuring that firebreaks are in place, clearing invasive alien plants, and fireproofing their homes. In the wake of the Cape fires in 2000, the government, through the Working for Water programme, initiated the Santam/Cape Argus Ukuvuka Campaign. It was an extraordinary success, helping to forge the formidable capacity, co-ordination and partnerships that now prevail.

It was also the forerunner to the worldrenowned Working on Fire (WoF) programme that has been instrumental in battling the fires in the Cape. Four Working on Fire helicopters and two fixed-wing bombers, guided by spotter planes, have strategically bombed the fire lines, diverting the fires to protect property.

By 11am on Tuesday, we had flown 104 hours of operations, making 1 880 aerial drops at a cost of R2.4 million.

There are 400Working on Fire firefighters combating these fires, and a further 250 coming in from other provinces to join other volunteer firefighters and bolster existing SANParks capacities as well as those of the City of Cape Town.

Working on Fire is a multimillion-rand job creation Environmental Sector Programme under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). It is primarily geared towards assisting the government to fulfil its job creation and social upliftment mandate to the people of South Africa.

WoF addresses the need to create sustainable job opportunities as outlined in provisions of the National Development Plan (NDP). Since its inception in 2003, it has created more than 30 000 work opportunities.

Through the Department of Environmental Affairs, young people are recruited from marginalised communities, and trained in fire awareness and education, prevention and fire suppression skills. We draw our firefighters from the poorest of the poor.

Eighty-five percent of recruits are youth and at least 29 percent are women, representing the highest level of female participation in any similar firefighting service in the world.

Personnel are spread across 200 bases in all the provinces of South Africa. They are characterised by their fitness, discipline, exceptional work ethic and bravery.

In this regard, it has been heart-warming to see the way in which the public and, in particular, those whose homes are threatened by fire have rallied behind our firefighters.

There are pictures in the papers of mountains of donated food as well as stories of homeowners providing refreshments to the often exhausted teams. It is never pleasant to witness wildfires like those raging across the Table Mountain chain and our thoughts are with those whose properties have been destroyed.

However, had it not been for the united efforts of all those mentioned above, it really could have been worse.

There is a problem to confront. In 2000, most of the structures damaged or destroyed were surrounded by invasive alien plants which have negative ecological impacts, including the destruction of indigenous seeds and water repellence. It may be true once again that the invasives were responsible for the disproportionate impacts of the fires.

Given that fires germinate the seeds of invasives, it is anticipated there will be a massive regrowth of invasives that will need to be tackled. If they are not, they will cause worse fires in years to come.

Our firefighters should spend scarce resources where they are needed, not in fighting fires around properties where the landowners have not bothered to clear their invasives. Our Alien and Invasive Species Regulations were published last year and our Biosecurity Unit, linked to the Working for Water programme, will be issuing notices to landowners to have an approved plan to clear invasive alien plants on their properties.

If one once again considers what is unfolding now, and the chaos that led to the Ukuvuka Campaign in 2000, tribute should be paid to all firefighters and officials from the various partners. And to those landowners who have taken preventative measures over the years.

These co-ordinated efforts have ensured that what could have been calamitous, has actually had limited negative impacts, and actually some positive benefits for the ecological functioning of the natural systems.

Working together, we move South Africa forward.

Edna Molewa is the Minister of Environmental Affairs