10/01/2026
It is time that politicians and landowners accept accountability for poor fire and alien invasive species management that has led to the recent devastating fires in the Western Cape. Devastating in terms of the loss of houses, cars and other infrastructure on the urban edge, and not as the media love to portray, "X area size of vegetation destroyed". This may be an unpopular opinion, but please share this ecological perspective that needs to reach everyday South Africans.
At what point are people going to accept that they live largely within fire-driven ecosystems (fynbos biome in the Cape, grassland and savanna in the summer rainfall region) and that proactive fire management is essential to prevent destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods?
I was in the exact area of Mossel Bay that has burnt over the past few days, destroying several homes and cars, doing botanical studies over the past 2 years. In my reports, I specifically highlighted the severe fire risk in the area due to fynbos vegetation that has not been burnt in decades, which is further compounded by dense infestation of especially Acacia cyclops (rooipitjie).
The problem comes from a lack of foresight, ignoring warnings by specialists, and a disconnect with nature. There is a big difference between living in the middle of a concrete jungle like a major city, and living in a community adjacent to a natural area. In the concrete jungle, there is no ecosystem to think about. But when you live adjacent to a natural area, you are part of the ecosystem. Once you are part of the ecosystem, nature is in charge, and you can either adapt to living as part of the ecosystem, or fight against it and face the unfortunately consequences. Living as part of the ecosystem does not mean you sit back and do nothing, it means you have to actively manage your local environment for the benefit of all. And in a fire-driven ecosystem, that means that there must be provision for this critical element. Altering natural fire cycles, both in terms of too frequent fires, or more commonly, fire exclusion and suppression, have negative impacts on the ecosystem. Fire exclusion and suppression leads to dangerous build ups of the fuel loads, that only lead to more intense and difficult to control fires.
The destruction of infrastructure by this and other fires could have been minimized or avoided compleyely had government (local and/or provincial) and landowners ensured that suitable fire breaks existed along the urban edge, alien invasive species were properly controlled and controlled fuel reduction burns were conducted at ecologically acceptable frequencies.
Now we can all accept that financially, times are tough and clearing alien invasive vegetation is expensive. But what is the cost of not clearing? It's simple, unstoppable fires that cause potentially hundreds of millions in damage to infrastructure and even the loss of lives and livelihoods, not to mention the degradation of our precious indigenous flora and fauna. Sadly, most landowners sit back when there are only a small handful of alien invasive plants on their properties, allowing them to establish and become dominant and now unaffordable to clear. We need government to recognize the seriousness of the alien invasive species pandemic, especially in the Western Cape and fund proper alien clearing teams. We also need to come together as society to clear recently burnt areas of seedlings of these alien species. Doing this will not only reduce future fire risks along the urban edges, but also allow indigenous species to thrive again. Many hands make light work, so why not become active citizens?
Many people will also only see fire as destructive, unnatural, and the most recent trend is to scream "arson" as the cause of every fire, without any evidence or facts around the origin. While arson is certainly taking hold, human negligence is the main concern, while some natural fires do occur and should be allowed to burn as nature intended. The fact is, no matter how fires are started, in a fire-driven ecosystem, they are inevitable. A case of when, not if. How government and landowners, especially along the urban edge manage fuel loads and maintain firebreaks, will ultimately determine whether or not disasters like this, like Knysna, like George, like Betty's Bay, will continue to take place. All I can say is prevention is better than cure. Proactive fire and alien plant management is the only long-term solution to suffiently mitigate fire risks on the urban edge, thereby protecting infrastructure, lives and livelihoods.
This issue is even more complex, but I will end this monolog here. Please leave questions in the comments below and I may address them in a future post. My thoughts are also with those who have been affected by these fires and the brave fire fighters on the front lines.
