The heat is on: Province faces record fire season

The Western Cape has suffered one of its most devastating fire seasons ever recorded, with about 132 000 hectares of land already consumed by flames since December.

Between December 1, last year, and Sunday, January 11, the Western Cape Government revealed in a statement that more than R19 million was spent on firefighting operations, with R16 million going towards aerial firefighting resources.

Premier Alan Winde said it was estimated that local government spent triple that amount funding their own firefighting efforts. The province deployed more than 1 600 municipal firefighters, bolstered by an additional 1 000 Working on Fire (WoF) personnel.

The provincial government covered the first hour of aerial firefighting costs, during which 90% of fires are typically extinguished.

Premier Alan Winde revealed these stats at a special press briefing, seeking a provincial disaster declaration to unlock emergency funding and resources.

Mr Winde confirmed that the 2025 to 2026 fire season has proven "catastrophic", with double the number of blazes recorded compared to the same period last year.

"When tackling disasters such as this, our sole priority is to protect lives and, as far as possible, infrastructure, including homes. It is deeply unfortunate that structures have been destroyed, but our main priority is ensuring public safety,” he said.

The latest major fire took place on the slopes of Signal Hill in Bo Kaap on Sunday night, January 18. The park dispatched ground firefighting crews to a mountainous area above Voetboog Street, Bo-Kaap, and also forced Signal Hill Road to close ("Bo Kaap fire above Boetboog Street extinguished", Atlantic Sun, Monday, January 19).

In December last year, multiple locations were affected following informal settlement fires, with more than 100 residents reported homeless following a blaze in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay. The fire in Imizamo Yethu occurred on Christmas night, destroying around 50 structures ("Multiple informal settlement fire leaves scores of people homeless", Sentinel News, January 15).

Community leader out in Imizamo Yethu, Kenny Tokwe, said these fires can be life-changing for many people and are something that cannot be taken lightly.

"You have everything go up in flames in one go. You lose everything, and you are meant to rebuild. So it's not as easy for some people, and some take even longer to recover," he said.

"When they say these fires are devastating, they mean it because it destroys your life."

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