Wild Estate residents concerned over a cloud smoke hanging over their property
“We are well aware of the smoke, and it is taking place from the development property next door. It is a controlled fire which aims to control wildfires that normally take place,” says the estate general manager.
The Wilds Estate residents in Pretoria east raised concerns over the environmental issue to authorities on Tuesday due to a thick smoke cloud that was forming over the estate.
The estate general manager Coenie Groenewald told Rekord that the estate was aware of the smoke.
“We are well aware of the smoke, and it originates from the development property next door. It is a controlled fire which aims to control wildfires that normally take place,” Groenewald said.
He further said residents were made aware of the incidents, adding that the matter was even posted on the estate’s Facebook page.
The residents’ concerns come after a huge fire broke out on Saturday at the Cemetery View informal settlement which resulted in the death of three people.
According to the emergency services spokesperson Deputy Chief Peter Motolla, their officers were alerted to the fire shortly after 20:00 on Saturday.
Motolla said when the team arrived at the scene, at least 400 homes were on fire, and residents were hurriedly trying to seek shelter away from the fire.
“We discovered three [bodies] burnt to death, among them a five-year-old girl. The cause of the fire is not yet known.”
Meanwhile, the ward councillor Malcolm de Klerk said it was “devastating” to see how residents stood at a distance and watched their homes go up in flames.
De Klerk said at least a thousand people had been left without a place to stay.
He further alluded that some Cemetery View residents stayed there for more than seven years.
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