Overberg farmers say impact of WC wildfires will extend far beyond immediate damage

As wildfires tore through parts of the Western Cape, farmers in the Overberg District Municipality said that the impact of the fires would extend far beyond the immediate damage.

In areas where thousands of hectares have been destroyed, agricultural producers warn that recovery will take years, not months.

Wildfires have destroyed crops, infrastructure and livelihoods across the municipality, with fynbos and flower farmers among the hardest hit.

Carlo Groenewoud, who lost everything in the fire, said the nature of his farming operation makes recovery a long and uncertain process.

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“We farm fynbos, and with fynbos, the natural veld takes about five years to recover and, obviously, we’re also planting flowers and that’ll take also about a minimum of four years before we can harvest again.”

Groenewoud said the financial reality of losing years of production and income is still sinking in and the agricultural damage is expected to impact jobs and production in the region as farms work toward recovery.

MINUTES TO RESPOND

For farmers on the front lines of the Overberg fires, preparation does not always mean protection, as blazes that burned for weeks moved rapidly through agricultural land with little time to respond.

In the Elim area, fires moved through agricultural land with little warning, jumping firebreaks and leaving farmers with minutes rather than hours to respond.

For fynbos and flower producers, even controlled burns are carefully planned, but runaway fires leave no room for intervention once they gain momentum.

Groenewoud said that despite knowing the fire was approaching and trying toprepare, it spread too fast to contain.

“We tried to prepare the best way we could… we thought we would stop the fire on the farm around the houses where there’s kikuyu grass, but when the fire came, it was just overwhelming and we had to jump in our bakkies and drive away to save ourselves.”

Authorities said mop-up operations and damage assessments are now under way as affected landowners begin securing properties following the devastating fires.