MINISTERS URGE PUBLIC TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO STOP RAGING WILD FIRES

The Minister for Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, responsible for disaster management and Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ms Lindiwe Hendricks returned from Mpumalanga today, Monday 30 July 2007 on a mission to assess the extent of damage causing caused by wild fires during the last week.

This trip comes in the aftermath of wild fires which raged through parts of Mpumalanga , Kwazulu-Natal , Free State , Eastern Cape and neighbouring Swaziland , causing loss of life, damage to private property, grasslands, game and livestock.

Ninety percent of wild fires are caused by human negligence and exacerbated by the current dry spell and strong winds.
“The loss of life, property and livelihoods through these fires are deeply regretted by Government,” said Hendricks.
“We would like urge our people to take every precaution to stop fires from starting; by reporting any fires as quickly as possible, and ensure that safety plans are in place”, she said.

“In particular, we know that speed is essential in stopping fires becoming a disaster. By reporting fires quickly, this can ensure that the aerial fire-fighting capacities, and the ground-crews, can respond as quickly as possible, and contain fires that may otherwise cause further damage and loss of life,” Hendricks added.

Four fires remain out of control in Mpumalanga , while a further 36 reported fires across the four provinces have been brought under control.

Latest unconfirmed reports indicate that there have been 22 deaths, 13 of which have been in Mpumalanga and 9 in KwaZulu-Natal . Indications are that there have been losses of 32,000 hectares of plantations in Mpumalanga , 1,000 in KwaZulu-Natal , and 18,000 in neighbouring Swaziland . Four sawmills are reported burned down, and one mine has been affected by the fires, that may impact on the jobs and livelihoods.

In addition, there are losses impacting upon the line-functions of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism that are of vital economic, ecological and social concern.

“We would like to emphasise that the co-ordination of information is an important function of the partnership, through the Provincial Disaster Management Centres, and that confirmation of reported losses need to be verified before we can give a consolidated picture of the extent of the damage, and respond to what can be done to address the problems” said Mufamadi.

“We would like to commend the level of co-operative governance between the Departments, the Provincial structures and local government, the Disaster Management Centres, the Fire Protection Associations, Air Force and the Working on Fire programme, as well as the private sector interests, in fighting the fires of over the past four days. Were it not their efforts, the loss of life, livelihoods and property, and environmental impacts, would have been considerably worse,” he added.

The Government's Working on Fire programme has deployed 23 fire-fighting aircraft and 480 fire-fighters in Mpumalanga to fight the four fires that are out of control, and to mop up after the fires that have been controlled. A further 72 Working on Fire fire-fighters from the Western Cape are en route from the Western Cape, in additional to the teams drawn from the Free State and Gauteng.

Further up-dates will be given as information is consolidated. We thank the media for their vital support in making people aware of the impacts that wild fires do have, and the steps that people are urged to take to prevent further fires.

For more information:
Zandile Ratshitanga
Spokesperson
Ministry for Provincial and Local Government
082 460 2041

Hilgard Matthews
Spokesperson
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
012 336 6517
079 510 5649
Working on Fire
Val Charlton
082 378 9056