Overview
- Premier Alan Winde sent two letters on 22 January to national authorities seeking separate provincial disaster classifications for wildfires and water shortages.
- Officials report roughly 132,000 hectares burned in the 2025/26 season, the worst since 2015, with no human fatalities and more than R19 million spent by 11 January, largely on aerial firefighting.
- Below-normal 2025 rainfall left combined dam storage near 58% versus about 80% a year earlier, with Knysna, Kannaland and Beaufort West flagged as high risk for water security.
- Knysna declared a local disaster on 16 January and received a R20 million emergency reprioritisation from the Department of Water and Sanitation to develop groundwater and stabilise supply.
- A provincial disaster classification would permit rapid budget shifts, emergency procurement and tighter coordination, with forecasters warning of an extended fire season and continued rainfall deficits.