A few active fire spots remain on the Franschhoek mountains.
The Franschhoek Pass is now open after a difficult Thursday evening, when the fire line burning on the right-hand side of the Pass, was pushed towards properties.
The Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) said in an update, firefighters were able to push the fire back to the mountains.
This prevented the fire from crossing over to nearby guest houses and farms in the area.
Firefighters are from the Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Fire Services, CapeNature and the Winelands Fire Protection Association (FPA), farmers and agri-workers.
While visiting George, Alan Winde, Premier of the Western Cape, said “following a provincial cabinet meeting this week, we have officially requested disaster declarations from national government for us to intensify our efforts to manage the wildfires ravaging parts of the province, as well as water security challenges affecting several municipalities. This will allow us to strengthen governance and sustain a coordinated response.”
He also said a discussion to declare crime a disaster is underway with the Department of Cooperative Governance (COGTA) and Police Ministers.
Pictures: Henry Robbertse.