Free State police are investigating four cases of arson linked to the devastating veld fires that ravaged the province about a week ago, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday.
A spokesperson, control forester Malcolm Proctor, said four people were caught red-handed and there were ”four police cases” under investigation in connection with fires the previous weekend.
”One case is being investigated at Petrus Steyn, one in Lindley and two in Warden.”
Proctor estimates the Free State lost about 100 000ha to veld fires this year.
Thus far 41 fires were reported in the Petrys Steyn area, which destroyed 1 211ha of grazing. Damages were estimated at R270 000.
In Senekal, about 40 fires had been reported this season, with 1 021ha burned. The damages in this area were estimated at more than R616 000.
In the Warden, area 12 fires had been reported this season, which destroyed 11 000ha. The estimated damages for this region were R12-million, Proctor said.
Veld fires have raged in seven provinces in South Africa over the past two weeks, causing a number of human fatalities, killing thousands of animals and destroying thousands of hectares of land.
Free State farmers affected by the veld fires last week were given bales of fodder by provincial minister of agriculture Mamiki Qhabathe over the weekend.
Spokesperson Thato Mokoena said the provincial minister visited about five farms in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district on Saturday and distributed a few hundred bales of fodder to farmers.
Qhabathe visited the Ficksburg commonage and the Harmony farm in the area where 25ha belonging to farmworkers were seriously damaged.
She also visited a farm in Bethlehem and farms around the Lesotho border, in the Fouriesburg area, where 280ha of grazing land were affected.
The provincial agriculture department was still assessing the damage caused and a final report would be completed by Tuesday, said Mokoena. — Sapa