News24 | Western Cape govt wants 2 states of disaster declared over wildfires, water shortages

Firefighters battling a blaze on the slopes of Signal Hill on Sunday night above Voetboog Street in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town.

• The Western Cape government will ask the Department of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs to declare two disasters in the province.
• One would be for the rampant wildfires, and the other for looming droughts in some regions due to lower-than-normal rainfall.
• It is also exploring the possibility of having a disaster declared for crime in some sections of the province.

The Western Cape government will apply for two declarations of disaster – one for the rampant fires in the province, and the other for dwindling water availability in some regions.

Premier Alan Winde said the requests would be delivered to Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosi Hlabisa on Thursday afternoon.

“We’ve got to mitigate this risk,” he stated at the province’s Disaster Management Centre.

“We are in this position because it is so dry. We’ve had a few years of wet seasons that created massive growth and fire load, and now, with the dryness in the system, that’s why we have these fires. That’s also why some of our towns are under serious pressure from a water usage point of view.”

Winde said he would also meet Police Minister Firoz Cachalia on 5 February to discuss the feasibility of applying for a declaration that crime in parts of the province be declared a disaster, particularly relating to extortion- and gang-related murders.

He added the province did not have a mandate to request a disaster to deal with crime, but would thrash out possibilities with the police minister.

READ | Multiple flare-ups hamper Franschhoek firefighting efforts

If approved, the declarations of disaster for the water and fire crises could inject more money to help the province better prepare and respond amid predictions of below-normal rainfall for 2026, already keenly felt in Knysna, Kannaland and Beaufort West, and the expected increase in fire risks.

With dam levels critically low, failing infrastructure, and ongoing instability at the municipality, Knysna is now expected to run out of water within the next few days if urgent interventions are not implemented.

It has emerged that it needs an estimated R127 million to avert Day Zero.

The province’s firefighters have been under the whip in the City of Cape Town, Overberg region, Cape Winelands, Witzenberg and Matroosberg, as they bring blazes under control.