South Africans Send Feed Worth R1 Million to Fire-Hit Farms

28 January 2026
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Anita Dangazele
  • Fires destroyed 15,000 hectares in KouKamma and Kouga. Farmers lost homes and grazing land. Cattle had no grass and starved.
  • Werner Heyns made a social media plea. South Africans sent over R1-million worth of feed to more than 150 farms.

Wildfires and drought destroyed farms across Kouga and KouKamma in the Eastern Cape.

In KouKamma alone, more than 15,000 hectares of land burned in just two weeks. Farmers lost homes, buildings, fences and all their grazing land.

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Some farmers lost everything. With no grass left, their cattle were starving.

Werner Heyns, a farmer in the area, made a desperate plea for help on social media.

South Africans responded. Within days, donations poured in from across the country.

More than R1-million worth of animal feed has now been delivered to farmers in Kouga.

Supermarket chains and road freight companies offered trucks to carry loads of lucerne to the worst-hit areas. Deliveries reached farms in Hankey and other affected areas.

More than 150 farmers have received feed so far. But they say it's still not enough.

A farmer in the Kabeljous area near Jeffrey's Bay said the situation is dire.

"We lost a lot of veld and cattle. We don't know where to take them. Hopefully we can get more bales from somewhere," he said. "We need rain desperately."

Even if rain comes soon, it could take six months before any grazing returns.

The Democratic Alliance's Heinrich Muller slammed the government for its slow response.

He said the drought and fires were predictable, yet support was delayed.

Muller wrote to Eastern Cape agriculture MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe to demand urgent feed relief and a better emergency plan.

He said the province needs to act faster when disasters hit.

"Farmers need certainty, timely help and a government that gets the crisis on the ground," he said. "We must protect food security and rural jobs."

The fires have now been brought under control. But the farming crisis is far from over.

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