Makhanda residents devastated after losing homes to fire

His laptop, his dog, his cat and one set of clothing is all that Makhanda resident Graham Reed managed to take from the place he’s called home for the best part of a decade.

Speaking from his temporary refuge with friends on Wednesday, he was still in shock after a runaway fire destroyed his home on the outskirts of Makhanda on Tuesday afternoon. Driven by winds close to 50km/h, the fire tore across the tinder-dry mountainside in 30-degree heat, threatening homes, PJ Olivier High School, Makana Resort and the Makana Parks Department.

Firefighters had to spread their resources, made worse by the town's week-long water outage.

“I have lost absolutely everything,” said Reed, whose house was part of the Park Homes complex. Reed’s home and his neighbour’s were destroyed in the blaze that began late morning. Friends said the neighbour was still too traumatised to speak.

Reed described the utter abandonment and helplessness he felt.

“Around 1pm I started smelling smoke,” he said. He and a different neighbour went to investigate.

“We saw smoke some distance away and we called the fire department,” he said. “That was around 1.30pm.”

But Reed didn’t see any help arriving.

An hour and a half later, with no water in the taps, he watched helplessly as his neighbour’s house was razed and his own was engulfed in flames.

“It was too late when a small fire truck arrived.”

More firefighting resources later arrived, preventing other homes in the park from igniting.

“There's nothing to salvage,” Reed said.

Makana Municipality spokesperson Anele Mjekula said fire services had received a call alerting them to a fire in Grey Street at 1.22am.

“On arrival, the fire crew reported that the fire was moving very fast uphill, fanned by a strong, gusting wind.”

Mjekula said the crews had responded to protect nearby houses and school and that additional staff members were called to assist.

While the teams were busy with the Grey Street fire, another report was received of a bushfire at Green Hills.

“A crew was dispatched, and the fire was burning in the valley with no access. Working on Fire was dispatched from Ndlambe to assist at Green Hills.”

Makana Fire crews monitored both areas throughout the night.

The fire at Greenhills was still being monitored on Wednesday as strong winds returned.

Tuesday’s fire occurred after much of Makhanda had been without water for days. Water tankers had to be used to battle Tuesday’s blaze.

The cause of the week-long water outage was reportedly a work stoppage by Makana staff after they failed to receive overtime payments. A letter by Makana’s chief financial officer indicated that Makana had had to choose between paying workers overtime or financing its Eskom debt. According to the letter dated August 8, Makana Municipality must pay Eskom R57,989,912.20 to be compliant with its debt relief conditions.

The widespread work stoppage affected most municipal services, with areas reporting water outages and uncollected garbage piling up on the town’s streets. Residents reported that waste was collected on Thursday.

With the mountain ablaze above, and Gift of the Givers staff setting off to get water to desperate communities,  around 50 people under the banner of the Unemployed People’s Movement protested outside the city hall.

Gift of the Givers dispatched two water tankers to Makhanda on Tuesday in response to desperate pleas for help. — Talk of the Town