Komsberg reed huts burn down

KOMSBERG grape farm workers were hit by disaster once more when around 190 reed huts burnt to the ground during a raging fire on Tuesday.

Around 260 workers lost personal belongings in the fire that reportedly started in one of the huts along the Orange River and quickly spread to other reed structures nearby.

No injuries were reported.

Police officers helped extinguish the fire on the farm some 70 kilometres west of the Ariamsvlei border post.

Workers on their way from their lunch break, noticed one hut on fire and alerted management.

Komsberg human resources manager Hilda Shithigona described the inferno as a disaster, saying the blaze almost destroyed the entire commune.

“It was very hot and in some of the huts, gas cylinders exploded and fuelled the fire.”

She said workers and other volunteers destroyed unaffected huts to stop the fire from spreading.

“It was very dangerous and the fire spread very fast. We used fire extinguishers and water but that was not enough, so we destroyed the remaining huts.”

Health assistant on the farm Leonard Hatzkin said the nearest water tank ran dry quickly but the fire was doused around 17h00.

“We were all very shocked, but tried our best to help one another rescue the belongings of the workers in some of the burning huts and others alongside the river,” he said.

Karasburg East constituency councillor Dennis Coetzee on Wednesday arrived on the scene with tents and food for the affected. He expressed anger over the living arrangements of workers on the farm.

Several fires occurred at the farm over the years and in January this year, a flood destroyed dozens of huts. A three-year-old boy was washed away by the floods and his body was never found.

Coetzee said it was unacceptable for workers to live in reed structures without proper hygiene and sanitary facilities in an independent Namibia.

This is a historic situation that seemingly can never be resolved, he said.

“Government authorities convened with Komsberg management countless times over housing at the farm, but yet again, the workers find themselves in another perilous situation,” he said.

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