It’s been a week of flame and rain. I’ve been in the Western Cape in my little village, and here all we knew was heat and smoke.
A fire raged on the other side of the mountain, a fire raged in Franschhoek, a fire raged in Mossel Bay, a fire raged along the N1, a fire raged at Stormsvlei, and the sun was a blazing, relentless ball in the sky.
Then, another fire started far closer to home to our left, and another behind us, and we shut the windows against the smoke, the air heavy with the smell of burning, the mountains disappearing in the plumes.
The cellphone service was destroyed by flames. We bought icy drinks for the firefighters and a sandwich station operated at the local police station with community members churning out sarmies for the emergency responders – soon to be toasted sandwiches, I joked.
ALSO READ: National disaster declared after devastating floods in five provinces
Nobody laughed. We kept our takkies, bags and a 5l bottle of water ready to go at the door in case we had to evacuate in a hurry.
The sun burned down. It was like living in a tinderbox under my dry thatch roof, the garden crunching underfoot, the snakes coming into neighbouring houses looking for cool, animals seeking water in what remained of the Leiwater dams.
My neighbour’s dam evaporated completely into the thirsty sky, the fish suffocating in the thickening mud and dead by morning. Longtime residents told me they were scared going to bed at night. I have had a house here for 20-something years, and I’ve never known anything like it.
The only happy creatures were the mosquitoes. Meanwhile, across the country, Kruger National Park was flooding, its gates closed to visitors, guests and staff being evacuated by air.
The water continued to rise in Limpopo, and people, houses, and livelihoods were washed away. Oh, how we wished for some of that quenching water. Oh, how they wished for some of our drying heat, but more sun was forecast for us, more rain for them.
The weather has changed, and quickly. Last year was the third-hottest on record globally. It comes in behind 2024 and 2023, the hottest on record and the second-hottest, respectively.
The climate is changing, like it or not. But you know what isn’t changing fast enough? Us. Human activity is key to it all.
So I’m leaving my tekkies ready at the door.
ALSO READ: Plastic pollution is the last straw
