Veld fire incidents in the province
Veld fire incidents in the province
27 September 2011
published by www.allafrica.com
South Africa — The Executive Council received a report on veld fires that took place during 22-24 August 2011 in the province. The following areas have been seriously affected; Ditsobotla, Ventersdorp, Potchefstroom, Schweizer-Reneke, Vryburg, Ganyesa and Fochville.
These veld fires have resulted in five deaths and eight injuries, deaths of about 2550 livestock and 1050 game animals, destruction of about 310 000 hectares of grazing land and damage to agricultural infrastructure such as fencing, pivots, sheds and water pumping equipment.
EXCO acknowledged that veld fire disasters have an enormous impact on agricultural productivity and livelihood for farmers in the affected areas and that the affected farmers will not cope on their own if government does not intervene.
EXCO noted that the following urgent support is needed; provision of emergency food, disposal of carcasses, provision of food parcels to affected farm workers, implementation of risk reduction strategies and restoration of the damaged agricultural infrastructure.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will complete the process of assessing the entire damage
