-
Aftermath of a veld fire in the Nelson Mandela Bay area captured on 09 January 2026.
Fires that hit the southern parts of the Sarah Baartman District municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay Metro have been brought under control.
[LISTEN] SA Weather Services issues red veldfire warning as Eastern Cape wild fires rage on
🔗 https://t.co/c7Ii9firp1#TheWeekendView #SABCNews pic.twitter.com/fQc2nE07pu
— SABC News Radio (@SABCNews_Radio) January 10, 2026
A helicopter dispatched in the Kouga region is up in the air to diffuse fires that were of concern in that region. These include two fires in the Jeffreys Bay area.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, all fires are under control and acting Mayor Garry van Niekerk has made an appeal to residents not to start open fire, despite the cool weather conditions, on Saturday morning.
Strong winds fan fires in the Western Cape
Meanwhile, Western Cape authorities say they will be working with the South African Air Force today to control a number of fire-related incidents in the province. Head of Western Cape Disaster Management Centre, Colin Deiner, says the strong winds are fanning the fires.
He says the fires in Mossel Bay have been contained and mopping-up operations continue.
“Fire services in the Western Cape are currently dealing with several major wildfires across the province, with a very large fire in the Wemmershoek area where the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Drakenstein and Stellenbosch are dealing with that incident. Then we have the fire in Stanford and Pearly Beach; those fires were largely contained during the night but but they are still not under control and there will be large firefighting operations. We will be working together with the South African Air Force on Saturday to control those incidents.”
VIDEO | Eastern Cape fires update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIS9OWtyFwY
