Hon Bitsa Lenkopane urged farmers who were affected by the recent veld fire outbreaks at Kagisano-Molopo to start training as fire fighters to secure and protect their livestock.

The Chairperson of the North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon Bitsa Lenkopane urged farmers who were affected by the recent veld fire outbreaks at Kagisano-Molopo to start training as fire fighters to secure and protect their livestock.

“It is important for farmers to equip themselves with necessary skills as fire fighters to protect and safeguard their livestock, instead of only waiting on the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist them long after there are severe damages to properties and loss of livestock,” said Hon Lenkopane.

This was during an oversight meeting that the committee conducted at Ga-Mariba Tribal hall, where all affected farmers formed part of the meeting. The meeting was held as part of the oversight week that is currently taking place in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality. The program is aimed at strengthening oversight and public participation and to promote accountability and transparency in government.

The recent veld fires burned down over 90 000 hectares of grazing land in the Kagisano Molopo Local Municipality. Areas affected by veld fires include PLAS farms, LRAD farms and Communal land.
The department did the preliminary assessment of the area to determine the extent of damages and the estimated cost of damages after the initial assessment as at 28th August 2023 is in excess of R39 million.

Hon Lenkopane urged the Department of Agriculture to consider climate smart indicator that will result in reviewing farming methods (i.e Change of crops, review planting season, review the livestock) and Climate-smart agricultural practices applied by farmers throughout the province.

The committee proceeded to visit Basha Bakery located in Morokweng which has not been operational since 2016. Amongst some of the challenges found was that the centre does not have proper durable equipment to bake in bulks, lack of monitoring and funding.
Hon Lenkopane urged the department to prioritise the funding of the bakery.

“I would like to urge the department to prioritise the bakery, as it only needs minor assets and equipment to be a fully functioning operational business,” said Hon Lenkopane