Thirteen people have been killed in several blazes that ripped through KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend, the provincial Emergency Medical Rescue Services said on Monday.
It had transported 25 patients to various hospitals, primarily in the uThungulu district, which includes the municipalities of uMhlathuze (Richards Bay), uMlalazi, Nkandla, Mbonambi, Ntambanana and Mthonjaneni (Melmoth), said the service in a statement.
On Sunday night 10 people were confirmed to have died in the blazes. Fires were also reported to have ravaged the Sisonke district (Kokstad), but EMRS said there were no fatalities.
Operations manager Dave Whitaker said the wind had died down overnight, allowing firefighters to gain the upper hand. He said it was still early to estimate the damage caused in the uThungulu district.
”I cannot even begin to tell you how many homes have been lost,” he said.
Melmoth protection services officer Derek Horne said that fires in the area had been brought under control in the early hours of Monday morning.
The smoke had abated and there was a cold wind. On Sunday evening motorists had been warned to avoid using the R66 and R34 roads. Horne said the warning had now been lifted and that there were no fires near the roads.
Police spokesperson Director Phindile Radebe said on Sunday that she could confirm the deaths of two people — an 85-year-old man and his 58-year old wife in the Madesheni area near Nkandla.
On Saturday night the region’s only firefighting plane crashed near Babanango shortly after take-off, killing the pilot.
Several fires were reported to have ravaged the Drakensberg area, but no casualties were reported.
Cape Town mops up
Meanwhile, mop-up operations started in Cape Town on Monday morning following heavy storms over the weekend.
”There are still reports of minor localised flooding,” said disaster management spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, adding that light rain continued to fall.
Most roads had been cleared after gale-force winds and heavy rains battered the province.
”It played havoc with the electricity supply,” he said, adding that an increased demand for electricity and trees toppling power lines had caused power failures. Another cold front had been forecast for the coming weekend, Solomons-Johannes said.
According to Venetia Magane, a forecaster at the South African Weather Service, there were still some fires burning in KwaZulu-Nata, Mpumalanga and Swaziland. Magane said she expected the wind to moderate during the day. She said winds of about 44km/h had been recorded in Johannesburg on Monday morning, which would probably decrease to about 20km/h or 30km/h on Monday afternoon.
Magane said the cold weather and wind were caused by a combination of a very cold-front and a high pressure system. Because the central part of the country was very dry and the wind was very strong, this had proved conducive to fires. Magane said she expected the wind to drop and temperatures to warm up later in the week. – Sapa