While wildfires have been blazing for over a week in large parts of the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District, uncontrollable blazes have also been reported in parts of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality.

Wildfires have ravaged about 50 000 hectares of grazing land.

The chairperson for the North West Umbrella Fire Protection Association, Eric Thabo Stoch, has appealed to authorities to declare a state of disaster in the affected areas.

“At the moment we have been requesting since last week Thursday to have the Provincial Disaster Management Centre declare a state of disaster, so that we can assist our communities and members of tribal authorities in the area. We are now sitting with a situation where we have a lack of water and a lack of resources, and the fires have been running out of control since last week with very little assistance coming in from elsewhere,” Stoch says.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development says all hands are on deck to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the fires.

The MEC for the Department, Desbo Mohono, says, “Over 50 000 hectares of land have been burnt by the fire. So as the government, my HOD is already looking at how best we can assist our farmers. You would remember in my Budget Speech that I indicated that we want to have a fodder bank because for the government to declare a disaster, it takes long sometimes. So it’s better for us to have a plan B to mitigate the situation. Without those farmers, there’s no food in the province. So, we have agreed that the HOD will meet the HOD of Finance so that together we can see what it is that we can do.”

SABC News