Farmers hard hit by fires
Three farms near Gamalakhe were affected by last Saturday's blaze.
A FARMER has been left counting the cost after his plastic recycling factory, store, farming equipment and five vehicles went up in flames last Saturday night. Two other farms in the Gamalakhe area were also swept by the blaze.
Len Pienaar, owner of Lion Valley farm, received a phone call from the Hibiscus Coast Fire Department informing him that a building on his farm was on fire. Mr Pienaar does not live on the farm, but three of his staff members stay there.
He rushed to the farm and found that property estimated to be worth millions of rands had been destroyed by the fire.
Chris Fourie, the provincial coordinator for AfriForum in KwaZulu-Natal expressed his concern that this incident may possibly be related to a land claim dispute.
“In 2010 the Land Claims Court in Randburg ruled against the Mavundla Tribe and ordered that their land claim be de-gazetted. Inkosi Dumisani Mavundla refuses to accept the court ruling and still claims that the farmer’s land belongs to him and his subjects,” Mr Fourie said.
Police spokesman Jay Naicker said no case had been opened.
Conditions this winter have been extremely dry and there have been reports of several fires in the province, including at Ladysmith and Newcastle.
In a statement in the Citizen, Cogta spokesman Lennox Mabaso said,“Runaway veld fires, propelled by gale force winds, left a trail of destruction resulting in the loss of lives and the destruction of property.”
The report went on to say that KwaZulu-Natal Cogta MEC, Nomusa Dube-Ncube had dispatched disaster relief teams to parts of the province, including KwaMnyathi, Kokstad and some parts of the Ugu district. “AbaQulusi and Kokstad Municipalities are reported to be the worst affected,” she said.
