08 September 2023
By: Suzanne Venter
Since the beginning of August, more than 450 000 hectares have burnt in North West, and fodder donations are being collected to assist affected farmers.
In nearly all regions, arson is one of the main causes, followed by negligence and fires that spread from informal settlements to agricultural land.
“Almost all the fires originate in areas where there are no people or activities. There is certainly no lightning, and arson is the only logical explanation,” says Riaan van Zyl, manager of Sisu farm watch in the Stella, Setlagole and Mareetsane districts.
He says fires repeatedly start in the same places, often where illegal hunting is common.
“Besides being done to divert farmers’ attention, my suspicion is that it is often done to burn the dry grass. Then new, sweet, green grass grows, attracting game that is then illegally hunted,” says Van Zyl.
According to Agri North West, about 6,000ha has burnt around Stella, and more than 1,200ha at Mareetsane.
Not a coincidence
In the Bloemhof and Christiana areas, farmers are also struggling with arson, says Daan Lottering, vice-chair of the Lekwatamana Fire Association.
Agri North West says more than 15 700ha have burnt around Bloemhof and more than 60 000ha around Christiana.
“In one of the recent incidents, a fire started after the hot ash from a farmer’s trailer set the grass on fire. But there were also many fires that just suddenly started,” says Lottering.
“In a recent case, fires suddenly started burning in two different places, 5km apart, within five minutes. It cannot be a coincidence.”
Cattle sales
In the Lykso and Louwna areas, at least 52 000ha have already burnt, according to Agri North West.
Hennie Kruger, a farmer and district coordinator for firefighting, recently lost 200ha of pasture to fire and has to sell 30 head of cattle because he doesn’t have grazing.
In common with other areas, they regularly have fires that break out sporadically. “One of the fires started after a child placed a burning plastic bag in the grass, just because he wanted to see what would happen. And then there are the culprits who regularly set plastic bags on fire without supervision.”
Negligence
Fires often get out of control due to negligence. “For example, people will weld without having a fire extinguisher on hand to put out a fire. We also have many farmers in our area who farm on state land and don’t have the necessary infrastructure to fight fires,” says Kruger.
Van Zyl says this is often a problem in his area as well.
All three men say there is little cooperation from the police in conducting further investigations or prosecuting alleged arsonists in cases where suspects are identified.
Fodder shortages
Naudé Pienaar, deputy chair of Agri North West, says fodder is scarce due to the fires. Many farmers are holding back feed because they want to store it for the possible upcoming drought.
“There are many farmers who now have major feed shortages, and we kindly appeal to farmers to donate feed to the Manna for the Farmers feed project where possible,” says Pienaar.Partners in the collection effort include Agri North West, Southern African Agri Initiative, AfriForum, Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa and Caring Daisies. Farmers who want to make donations can contact Pienaar or Agri North West at 018 632 3612/24.
