A fire that has ravaged part of the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve was likely started by a community member living close to the reserve‚ park manager Johnson Maoka said on Monday.
"The reserve is bordered by community members all around. One of the community members who was cleaning their yard decided to burn some rubble. The wind blew and directed the fire to the reserve‚" said Maoka. This was on Saturday.
"We fought the fire from Sunday and again on Monday morning until 4.30am. It started again at around 8am‚" he said.
Only a few small fires were still burning on the reserve by noon on Monday.
Asked about the extent of the damage‚ Maoka said: "The damage is mostly on vegetation‚ maybe about 5‚000 to 8‚000 hectares of land."
He said the Mankwe game viewing site as well as a small camp called Metsweding had been lost to the blaze. The other lodges on site were not in any immediate danger.
"Yesterday [Sunday]‚ mid-afternoon there was a lot of smoke still and I had discouraged people from coming in but this morning‚ the reserve was opened‚" he said.
TimesLIVE contacted lodges on site‚ most of whom reported that guests had been told that they would be evacuated if necessary.
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