The FF Plus demanded today in a letter to the Premier of Limpopo, Mr Stanley Mathabatha, that Warmbad and surrounds must be declared a disaster area.
Devastating veld fires have been ravaging the Bela-Bela Local Municipality (Warmbad, Pienaarsrivier) since Saturday morning (23 September).
According to the local FF Plus councillor, Jee-Dee Cloete, who has constantly been involved in fire-fighting initiatives, thousands of hectares of land and even holiday homes at the Mabalingwe Nature Reserve have been destroyed.
On Sunday evening, the decision was made to temporarily regulate traffic on the Thabazimbi road (R516) between Mabalingwe’s gate and Ingolozi Park seeing as the smoke from fire breaks, made to prevent the fire from jumping across the road, would obstruct motorists’ vision.
The road has since been re-opened, but there is still a lot of smoke in the area.
Farmers, local communities and fire associations are still fighting relentlessly to contain the fires.
Firefighters from the Tshwane Metro have also been called in to assist local firefighters. If these efforts are unsuccessful, the residential areas of Pienaarsrivier and Hammanskraal are also in jeopardy.
The party is deeply concerned by the poor communication between the firefighting authorities of the towns in the Waterberg District Municipality (Nylstroom, Naboomspruit, Warmbad, Thabazimbi, Ellisras). Fire stations and staff only responded by Sunday evening.
District municipalities must prioritise disaster management and use their relevant grants to perform their duties properly.
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