Overstrand Municipality to launch independent probe into cause of fires in region
Firefighters have been battling different fires in Hangklip, Buffeljags Bay, Karwyderskraal and Grabouw since Monday morning.
Smoke from a wildfire hangs over Pringle Bay in the Western Cape on 30 January 2024. Picture: Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The Overstrand District Municipality said that an independent investigation would be launched to determine the cause of the devastating fires that have been raging in the region.
Firefighters have been battling different fires in Hangklip, Buffeljags Bay, Karwyderskraal and Grabouw since Monday morning.
The blazes have caused some structural damage, including homes in Pringle Bay.
Overstrand District Municipality Mayor Annelie Rabie: "What we normally do in the Overstrand when a fire like this happens, we do get an independent investigator to do a report for us, so that we know what it is we are talking about and not just breath hot air. Very difficult, but just incidentally we had six fires across the whole of the Overstrand, and that to me was just out of character completely."
Rabie's urged residents to stop speculating.
"Do not spread false information unless you have verified it with me or the office of the municipal manager, because that's the biggest issue, is that people talk nonsense and they talk extra stories, and then to manage emotions that go with that is rather problematic."