Image Source: EWN
Local – Africa Muslims Agency (AMA), in partnership with Afri Save Cash and Carry, has mobilised extensive relief efforts to assist thousands displaced by devastating fires sweeping across the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
Regional Manager Hafiz Hussain Choonara described the situation as quite serious, with fires raging for days on end and sprouting every few days in different municipalities across affected regions.
The fires have impacted multiple areas, including the Kouga Municipality, Port Elizabeth, and Mossel Bay, with evacuation orders issued for approximately 100,000 people.
Many residents have been forced to leave their farms and homes to seek shelter elsewhere, creating a significant humanitarian crisis requiring coordinated relief efforts.
Choonara explained that their response focuses on two areas: supporting firefighting efforts and providing essentials to displaced communities. The organisation has adopted an approach that addresses both immediate fire suppression needs and the welfare of displaced residents.
“One is to put out the fires, and the other is to provide food, water and essentials. One is to the responders who are responding in these tough conditions and, of course, those that are displaced,” he said.
Coordinated Relief Operations
The organisation’s teams work closely with fire departments across multiple municipalities, often serving as first responders themselves. Their presence on the ground has proven vital in detecting and reporting new fire outbreaks across the region.
Choonara recounted how their teams discovered new fires that fire departments were unaware of while conducting relief operations in the Kouga municipality. This early detection has helped prevent further spread of the fires.
“Yesterday our teams were out in the Kouga municipality and coming onto the farmlands there and then seeing fire sprouting, which nobody knew about, not even the fire department.”
AMA has also been supplying water to helicopters and opening dam resources to assist with fire suppression efforts. The organisation has established support systems for temporary shelters set up by municipalities.
Volunteer teams delivered hot meals to displaced residents at the Kouga Municipality Fire Department and Jeffrey’s Bay shelter locations over the weekend.
Afri Save Cash and Carry has disrupted their regular business operations to dispatch trucks and pallets of food, water, and essential supplies to communities across the Eastern Cape.
Choonara emphasised the ongoing need for public support to sustain relief operations as the fire situation continues to evolve. The organisation relies on donations to maintain its supply of essentials for both emergency responders and affected families.
“We need people to donate towards providing more support and essentials to those who are responders and those that are displaced and have been affected by the fires.”
