Late on Sunday afternoon as the fire ripped through the dry Free State veld of Hertzogville, Hansie Labuschagne’s heart broke at the sound of his animals in distress.
“I am struggling to fall asleep at night and when I eventually do fall asleep, I hear the cries of my animals as they burnt in the fire.
“I can never sleep after that again. These are animals I raised myself. It’s extremely heartbreaking,” an emotional Labuschagne said on Thursday.
The devastating runaway fires is believed to have started during a service delivery protest in the area on Sunday morning.
It destroyed about 100,000ha of crops in Hertzogville, Hoopstad and Christiana. Homes and barns were razed.
Labuschagne said that at about 11am on Sunday a message from the police asking for help to put out the fire was circulated on the farming groups.
“They [police] called on the farmers to come and assist them to put out the fire. We got into our cars and went to the scene where the fire was started.
“We tried our best to put it out, but then the wind started picking it up and then it spread like a wildfire,” he said.
At 4pm on Sunday the fire roared through Labuschagne’s farm. What followed was horrific.
Labuschagne said he lost 80 cows and a few calves in the blaze.
“You would go to the veld and see the mother [cow] with her lips, ears and eyes burnt while standing over her calf whose ears are burnt off and fighting to stay alive.
“I had to shoot both to relieve them from the pain and suffering. This is probably one of the most painful things I ever had to do,” he said.
Labuschagne said the SPCA helped to put down a further 30 cattle.
Only 20 of his cows survived.
He said 2,300ha of his fields were burnt.
His fences, gates and poles were destroyed and water pipes burst. He had received “tremendous support” and help from residents and other farmers.
“I might not need money now, but further down the line when I would have sold my calves, what then? It’s like cutting someone’s salary in half.
“We will have to start farming all over again.”
Christo Groenewald from the Hertzogville fire brigade said the fires in the area were extinguished, although some were still burning in the Boshoff area.
Police confirmed that 17 people had been arrested and appeared in the Hertzogville Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
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