Could it be arson over the housing problems in the Theewaterskloof municipality (TWK), or are there plans in place to overthrow the municipality? Or is it just this time of the year?
These are some of the rumours making the rounds following recent fires at Knoflokskraal and other parts of the TWK.
According to Louise Wessels, Manager of the Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association (goFPA), the past week has been a challenging time for the Overberg.
“There were multiple, multi-day fires, over a wide area,” she said. “Unfortunately the majority of these ignitings were deemed malicious of nature and in huge high-risk areas. Driving through the affected areas shows the devastation and anxiety the community experienced the day before.
“Many hours of labour, hardware and cost were, in some cases, lost due to these new ignitings. A number of 24-hour shifts have seen their hard work lost a day or two later – these events are challenging and testing our resilience.”
The Grabouw area went through the worst. At Rockview Dam there were three fires. City of Cape Town, CapeNature, Overberg District Municipality (ODM) and landowners responded. They were supported by Working on Fire (WOF) teams and aerial support.
At the N2 below Grabouw (DFFE property) one fire started on 5 February and was quickly spotted by the CapeNature teams from the Rockview Dam area. The City of Cape Town was supported by CapeNature. Significant aerial support was required to prevent the fire moving into the Helderberg side of the mountain.
Highlands Road suffered from various areas burning, flames running in windy and hot conditions. Structures, businesses, and agricultural land were damaged. Currently assessments are ongoing to determine the extent of the damage. Many have been saved.
“This is an ongoing threat to the area and a continuous high risk,” said Wessels. “Again, to my team, our landowners, partners/supporting agencies and the aerial support, our appreciation and that of the community.”
On Saturday officials closed the N2 towards Grabouw and traffic was diverted via the R44 Clarence Drive. The N2 once again open at 17:30 on Saturday for traffic.
Residents from Knoflokskraal and Grabouw were furious about the fires and some of them accused the TWK Municipality of poor service to support them during the devastating fires.
According to Chrisjan Gertse, deputy chairperson of the Khoisan Council, about 300 informal structures were destroyed during the fires. “The people lost everything,” he said. According to him the municipality and fire department supported them and they are grateful.
Other residents blame the municipality for not acting quickly.
According to John Michels, Deputy Mayor of TWK, his is a B municipality, so fire fighting is not part of its function. “The Overberg District is a C municipality, in control of fire fighting,” he said. “The fires at Knoflokskraal are the responsibility of the Overberg Municipality, so we can not assist them. At this stage the law indicates only A and C municipalities can have a fire department.”
At the time of going to press the fires were under control. Firefighters were on the scene monitoring situations.