The Garden Route area, from George and extending to the Port Elizabeth municipal boundary, was granted formal recognition as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO last week on Wednesday 14th June in Paris. This decision is the result of many years of work by a group of dedicated people on the Garden Route, with the support […]
MEDIA RELEASE FROM KNYSNA MAYOR ELEANORE BOUW-SPIES The Knysna Municipality has been declared a fire disaster following the devastating fires that started on 7 June. The majority of the Knysna Disaster Relief Fund will be focused on providing humanitarian assistance to residents of the Knysna fire and towards reconstruction efforts that will benefit […]
(Picture:- the back-burn of Saturday evening, as seen from the Sedgefield water reservoir. Taken by Conrad Ball) The latest report received from the Incident Management Team for the Knysna fires is that the blazes have been contained and are under control. With flare ups still occurring in many areas, the collective fire- fighting crew are […]
KNYSNA FIRE AS OF SUNDAY 11/6 AFTERNOON (Issued by Knysna Municipality) FIRE STATUS The fires that have been holding Greater Knysna hostage for the past six days are currently contained. Reinard Gildenhuys, Acting Incident Commander for Knysna said that the team feels confident that “today is the day,” that the Knysna fires will be brought […]
Whilst the fall-out from the devastating fires in Greater Knysna will no doubt be felt for months, if not years, it seems that as of this morning residents are out of imminent danger. Sedgefield village has been left more or less intact, though wildfires have wreaked destructive havoc in surrounding farming and smallholding communities […]
(Pictured above:- Acting Municipal Manager Johnny Diuglas with Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies) In a special Council Meeting held this afternoon at Knysna Council Chambers, Executive Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies tabled a motion to declare Knysna a ‘Local Disaster Area’, receiving full support from all the other councilors. This as flare-ups of the widespread fire are being reported in Belvidere, […]
(Picture:- Staff and board members of Knysna and Partners celebrate the announcement outside Knysna Municipal Chambers) There were loud cheers from the gallery at the council meeting held on Friday 26 May, when Knysna Executive Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies announced council’s resolution to sign a new Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Knysna and Partners (formerly Knysna Tourism), […]
Picture – Catherine Marais stands next to the burnt out shell of her mother’s home. (Information compiled by Noel Solomons) Annette Magdalena Marais, the sixty five year old mother of Catherine and grandmother of Christopher ‘Seuntjie’, lost her life when her RDP home on the cul de sac off Luthango Street was engulfed in flames between […]
(Press release issued by SANParks) It’s official! The planned ecological burn which was postponed last year is now burning. The steering committee concerned about the ecological wellbeing of the area made a decision guided by the weather to burn on Monday, the 15th May 2017. Approximately 71 hectares on the Southern slopes along the Brenton-on-sea Road […]
8/05/2017:- At least five racing cars from this weekend’s Simola Hill Climb were burned beyond recognition on a trailer travelling on the N2 between Knysna and Sedgefield . Eyewitnesses say the fire started sometime before 11am as the vehicle carrier was approaching the Groenvlei Lake. The vehicle carrier parked on the side of the busy highway and drivers of other […]