The Western Cape’s upcoming fire season has been extended from four to eight months amid the El Niño weather phenomenon. Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell says the move is due to warnings from experts that the province may be in for a tougher summer.
He notes that usually they plan their summer season from December to March, but this time around it’s from October to May. Indications are that this year’s El Niño is on track to be the strongest on record, threatening to unleash extreme weather across the globe and make 2027 the hottest recorded year by far.
“Learning from the lessons of December (2025), we had a very bad season – the worst since 1997. We’ve lost 215,000 hectares of land. So yeah, this is all part of the bigger plan to safeguard our people. We’re also busy talking to NSRI, Life Saving Western Cape to monitor our dams and our oceans because if we’re going to be hit with extreme heat, people flock to the beaches, so that’s another risk.”
