The fires at the end of July and beginning of August in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng had a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of our people. While it is still too early to quantify what the damage has been caused, early indications include the following:

• 22 confirmed deaths directly associated with the fires;
• a loss of over 64,000 hectares of commercial plantations (and a further 20,280 hectares in Swaziland), causing an overall loss to the industry of over R3.6 billion;
• four sawmills and an as-yet undetermined number of houses / buildings were damaged or destroyed;
• over 200,000 hectares of grazing have been damaged or lost, as well as significant stock and game losses and injuries;

• commercial and subsistence crops have been lost (valued at over R100 million in the Eastern Cape alone);
• significant damage to fences, as well as telephone and power lines;
• environmental damage, including soil erosion and the fires facilitating the spread of invasive alien plants, and
• the psychological, displacement and loss of productive time impacts during and after the fires.

We would like to reiterate our sincere condolences, and those of the entire Government, to those who have lost loved-ones. We would like to wish those injured in the fires a speedy recovery. We further offer our sympathies to all who have lost property, plantations, crops and grazing, livestock and game, and whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively affected by these fires.

Thanks for Decisive Action

As severe as the impacts have been, we would like to emphasise that the quick, decisive and emphatic action through the Disaster Management Centres, the Working on Fire programme, the South African National Defence Force, Local Councils, Fire Protection Associations and other structures, were critical in ensuring that further loss of lives, property and livelihoods, and environmental damage, were averted. It is always difficult to quantify what might otherwise have happened, were it not for the actions of the fire-fighters, officials and the public for the efforts to bring the fires under control.

As an example, in Mpumalanga alone, Working on Fire provided 32 fire-fighting aircraft (including four Air Force helicopters) to fight 40 fires, flying over 700 hours. 370 fire-fighters from Working on Fire, and mopping-up support from 105 Working for Water workers, fought the fires, in addition to Local Government capacities, as well as those from the commercial forestry industry, farmers and others. All Working on Fire and other Government capacities in the other affected provinces were fully deployed, indicating the decisive action taken to combat these severe fires. What is clear is that we all owe them dearly for the manner in which they risked their lives to save the lives and property of others, and the professionalism displayed in particularly trying circumstances.

Perhaps the most telling statement in this regard has come from Mr Mike Edwards of Forestry South Africa, who said that the impact on the fires on the forestry industry (which they have estimated at over R3.6 billion) could have been double the damage, were it not for the contribution of the Working on Fire partnership.

Next Steps

A detailed damage assessment is being undertaken by the Provinces affected by these fires and by the relevant sector Departments. This process will be co-ordinated by the National Disaster Management Centre. The aim of this approach is to:

1. Assess what steps need to be taken to normalize the situation.
2. Identify priority interventions required across the 3 spheres of government and the private sector.
3. Quantify the extent of damage incurred by all stakeholders.
4. Assess what steps need to be taken to normalize the situation.

It is hoped that this process can reach finality within the short-term. Once the detailed damage assessment has been completed, it is also important that a post-disaster review takes place. This will once again involve all relevant stakeholders, and will be co-ordinated by an independent academic institution to ensure an objective assessment of the response to this disaster. The intention of this process is to identify best practices, highlight any necessary amendments to the relevant institutional arrangements or legislation, identify what has worked or didn�t work, and what steps are necessary to mitigate against future events of this nature.

Warning of Further Fires

The conditions that led to the recent fires were particularly bad, with dry vegetation, strong winds and human carelessness leading to well over 100 fires that had to be controlled in the five provinces. We are still in the �winter� fire season, and that conditions for run-away wild fires will persist for the next two months in all areas outside of the Western Cape and the western part of the Eastern Cape. The early warning Fire Danger Rating System (shown on the SABC news, and repeated on radio and in the press) helps everyone to understand when to take extra precautions against fire.

What Needs to be Done by Individuals Right Now

We would urge that the public focus on the following:

• Take every precaution to avoid fires being started.
• Veld should not be burned without permission. (Severe costs, both criminal and civil, are possible, should people break the law in this regard.) This also applies to the burning of rubbish.
• Cigarette butts should be extinguished in ashtrays/containers.
• Open fires for cooking and warming should not be left unattended. They should be carefully extinguished, when finished, and the ashes carefully disposed of.
• Be particularly careful about using fire to smoke out hives, to get honey � a major cause of fires.
• Farmers, Traditional Leaders and other relevant land-users should join their local Fire Protection Associations, and get guidance on steps to be taken to prevent fires being started.

Fires should be immediately reported to the local authority, or using the 107 emergency number. (Phone 021.480-7700 from a cell phone, to get through for emergency.)

• The speed of the reaction to wild fires is the most important factor in containing damage.
• Accurate information on the exact location of the fire helps to ensure a quick response.
• False alarms can take limited resources away from real fires, and can cause the loss of lives and property.

Ensure that you plan for your own safety.

• Wild fires cause panic, and one can be easily disorientated. Plan for what you will do, should you be confronted with a wild fire. Make sure your families know what to do, and especially the children.
• Fire-proof your home, especially by removing flammable materials from around the home, including invasive alien plants, long grass, dead leaves and branches overhanging homesteads.
• Have buckets of water and sand ready. Where possible, make sure that you have working hoses. Fire extinguishers should also be ready, where affordable.
• Fighting established wild fires can be very dangerous. Make sure you have the right equipment, protective clothing and training before trying to do so. Work through your Fire Protection Associations or local Fire Chiefs.
• Have escape routes planned. Keep low, to reduce the impact of smoke. Cover your mouth and nose with a wet cloth. Remember: "Stop, Drop and Roll", should your clothing catch alight.
• Be very careful about driving through fires, especially when smoke makes visibility difficult. People die every year doing this.
• Plan with your neighbours, including those with insufficient capacity or resources to address their own safety. Contact your Fire Protection Association or Local Disaster Management Centre for further advice.

What Needs to be Done by Authorities and Land-users

There are key additional steps that need to be taken, to avert continued threats by wild fires:

• Disaster-management planning and the systematic deployment of preventative measures need to be taken by all vulnerable District Councils and their local authorities.
• Land-owners need to manage their land to prevent the escalation of wild fires, in accordance with the National Veld and Forest Fire Act of 1998. This is best done in consultation with Fire Protection Associations, in concert with the Local Disaster Management Centres. As mentioned above, it is very much in the land-owners� interests to do so, for the costs of being held partially or wholly accountable for damages caused by a fire can ruin a lifetime�s work.
• Invasive alien plants greatly exacerbate the intensity of wild fires, and that most of these invasives use fire as part of their germination strategy. This then means that every invasive alien plant-induced fire means a worse fire in years to come, unless steps are taken to manage the plants.
• It is also clear that climate change will worsen the risk of wild fires in many situations, and that planning needs to factor this into what steps need to be taken.

Need for Maintenance of Co-operative Management

We must thank each and every individual that has helped to combat wild fires over the past weeks. We have seen the aftermath of some of the fires, and talked with some of those who have lost so much. We have met the heroes and heroines in the Working on Fire programme, and the pilots that fly the fixed-wing water bombers and helicopters. We have seen the dedication of many local government officials and leaders. We have heard of the commitment to work together from the private sector. The only way we can truly take optimal possible control of wild fires is through co-operative governance across all spheres of Government, in partnership with the private sector and community structures, and through good planning, an adequate capacity and training. We have made significant progress over the last five years, but there is more still to be done. We need your team-work.

Should you wish to follow up on any points raised in this letter, please contact Ms Asanda Roji on rojia@dwaf.gov.za (e-mail) or 021 441 2700 (telephone) or 021 441 2785 (fax) or 082 933 7999 (cell) or Private Bag X4390, Cape Town 8000 (postal address), who will ensure that these points are addressed by the appropriate person.

With our thanks.

Yours faithfully

Minister Lindiwe Hendricks, M.P.
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry

Minister Sydney Mufamadi, M.P.
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
Minister of Provincial and Local Government

Date: 12 September 2007