In South Africa, thousands of hectares of agricultural land are torched and lost each year due to raging veld fires. Rural provinces are especially affected.
With the government’s unimplemented White Paper on Fire Services, most of these veld fires are avoidable, believes North West Umbrella Fire Protection Association chairperson, Eric Stoch.
According to Stoch, rural provinces are struggling to contain veld fires. He has called on government leaders to capacitate provinces like North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo, and some parts of Gauteng where the reaction to fire incidents is slow.
Inland vs coastal provinces
“In the coastal regions, a helicopter can go to the sea and drop water into the sea and dump it in the fire area. The return time is quick. For us, you drive 80 kilometres to go refill a tank because there is no water in our areas.
“Some farmers who will be taking water to put out the fire, end up not having water for three days for their livestock. That is how dire the veld fires situation is for farmers,” Stock explained.
Another challenge is a lack of firefighting personnel and fire trucks, Stock said. According to him, some vehicles are not operational and there is little to no budget allocation to municipalities or provinces.
“An example in the North West province, many municipalities have three firefighters instead of twenty-five. How on earth will those souls fight a ravaging fire in their community, there is no investment in fire services,” he said.
He said while veld fires are impacting food security, a solution to the problem has not been fully implemented.
What the paper says
The White Paper on Fire Services introduced in 2020 intends to reform legislation to reposition the fire services into the 21st century. It outlines the various mechanisms that must be utilised by fire services to engage with communities, especially those whose assets, housing and livelihoods are vulnerable to the risks posed by fires
The white paper stipulates that for South Africa to see a real change in fire services, there needs to be a better review of legislation on how to combat veld fires.
“The current fire services legislative framework does not adequately reflect most of the factors and challenges outlined above, and it is only through fundamental review of the legislative framework, that the fire services can be repositioned to respond to this challenging and evolving agenda going forward,” the white paper indicates.
Among its visions, the white paper envisions developing a national fire services advisory structure which will assist municipalities in dealing with fires and enforcing laws.
It also contains key drivers of change, the vision for fire services in the country, the role of three spheres of government in fire services, fire service education, training, research, capacity building and funding mechanism for fire services, the use of technology and more.
Shortcomings and solutions
Stoch has however raised some questions about the White Paper on Fire Services.
According to him, it is not speaking to real issues on the ground, adding that real implementation and collaborations between stakeholders are key to bringing down the number of hectares lost yearly because of fire.
“These fires are threatening food security and putting jobs at risk. We had a case where a farmer lost all her investment which she had put in buying livestock, all that went up in flames,” he said.
Is there a solution? According to Stoch, there is.
“What we need going forward is the establishment of a mayor’s advisory committee because these fires are happening at a local level.
“Workshops for political role players on the effects of veld fires, not only on the farmers and communities but on the economy as well. If a silo burns up, the economy of that area is gone,” he explained.
Stoch has also made a call to farmers to join firefighting organisations.
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