Introducing Fire Protection Associations

Reasons for FPAs Co-operation among rural owners and

managers of land is required for the effective management and prevention of veldfires.

Government cannot take on the duties and responsibilities of landowners for fire protection. The Act places this responsibility on landowners.

Advantages of FPAs (1) Promote co-operation in fighting and

preventing veldfires Cost saving by avoiding duplication of services Enforceable rules of FPA protect members from

the actions of non-members Fire protection officers (FPOs) are empowered

to enforce the Act and FPA rules Advice and assistance to members Improved communication between members Improved communication between members

and the Minister and other roleplayers

Advantages of FPAs (2) Possible relief from certain prevention

measures, for example, the duty to create and maintain firebreaks

Decreased risk of veldfires Organised groups have better negotiation

powers Possible decreased insurance premiums Possible assistance from the Minister No presumption of negligence in civil claims

Costs in forming an FPA There will be costs in forming and running

an FPA: Costs in time needed for meetings to set up and

run FPA FPAs must report to the Minister on fire statistics

and info needed for the fire danger rating system

FPO and other officials may have to be paid Administrative efforts to keep an FPA running

e.g. keeping a register of all members, informing members of the current fire danger rating

Financial costs of maintaining an FPA e.g. costs for FPO to travel to inspect members’ land

Costs versus benefits An FPA should not be formed where its costs

will be greater than the benefits it provides to members (FPAs should be cost-beneficial).

FPAs should be established in areas where the hazard of veldfires justifies the costs of organising and maintaining the FPA.

The justifiable level of hazard must be judged locally. For example: in the Cape Peninsula the hazards

of veldfires on the urban edge are so great that establishing an FPA is cost-beneficial.

When may an FPA be formed? Section 3 of the Act says any group

of owners who wish to co-operate to predict, prevent, manage and extinguish veldfires may form an FPA.

Who is an “owner”? “Owner” has its common law meaning

and includes any landowner with a title deed to property lessees:

lessees who lease DWAF commercial plantations a person who rents land from the owner

any person controlling land under a contract a lease is a type of contract

any person controlling land under a law e.g. managers of State forests who control the

land under the National Forests Act

Who is an “owner”? any person controlling land under a will

e.g. where someone has the right to control land until she dies, at which point it will go to the heir

any person controlling land under an order of the High Court

the executive body of a community set up under its constitution, law or custom

a Minister or person authorised by him/her where the land is State land and it is not controlled by someone else

Who is an “owner”? a member of the executive council or

a person authorised by him/her where the land is provincial land and is not controlled by someone else

the chief executive officer of any local authority or a person authorised by him/her

What about communities? Land controlled by a community could be

private land (where the community owns it), or State land held in trust.

Most land controlled by communities is held in trust by the State or the Ingonyama Trust.

The Act states that where land is controlled by a community, regardless of the ownership of the land, the executive body of that community is the owner.

What about communities? The executive body can exist in terms of:

its constitution (where the community has formed a communal property association and owns the land)

any law (for example, where a tribal authority was appointed by law) or

custom or customary law (where a chief or headman and the tribal elders may control the land)

Several communities might control different portions of a single piece of State land held in trust.

Each community should be represented in the FPA by its executive body.

What about State land? Only where State land is not controlled by:

a person contemplated in s2(1)(xiii)(a) (a title deed holder, lessee, or person controlling the land in terms of a contract, will, law or order of the High Court) or

a communitywill the Minister of the government department or member of the provincial executive council exercising control over the land, or a person authorised by him or her, need to be represented on the FPA

Membership of FPAs is voluntary for most owners Landowners can choose whether to

join the FPA or not. This is because:

The right to freedom of association in the Constitution must be upheld.

Landowners themselves need to make firm commitments to co-operate through FPAs.

Who is compelled to join an FPA? The owners of

State land municipal land where there is a fire

servicemust join an FPA if one forms in their area.

State land means national or provincial land land held in trust for communities by the

Minister of Land Affairs or the Ingonyama Trust

excluding municipal land

Boundaries of an FPA Section 3: The area where an FPA

is formed should be relatively uniform in terms of: having regular veldfires or its veldfire risk or its climatic conditions or its forest types or other vegetation.

Boundaries of FPAs Form FPAs only where they are definitely

needed. The area of an FPA should be optimum, that

is, not too big to be able to fulfil duties and not too small to justify the costs involved.

The Act leaves this matter open - each case must be judged on its own circumstances.

An FPA may usefully correspond with one or more local municipalities (category B).

But there may be cases where an FPA would for good reasons include only part of the area of a local municipality.

Prioritisation of FPAs (1) HO will establish the framework for

priorities in the country, by using a “risk assessment” modelling approach that ranks District municipalities according to overall fire risk in each district.

These will be discussed and finalised with provincial disaster management centres (DMCs) by DWAF.

Prioritisation of FPAs (2) Fire Advisors will then inform local DMCs Fire Advisors will establish

communication with local initiators of FPAs: district DMCs fire services (chief fire officers (CFOs)) emerging umbrella FPAs local leaders nature conservation authorities.

Prioritisation of FPAs (3) Fire Advisors will advise initiators on

the priorities for their Districts and the optimum configuration for FPAs in their Districts.

Where no FPA has been formed The Minister may intervene when no

FPA has been formed in an area in which s/he is of the opinion one should be formed.

The Minister may call a meeting to discuss setting up an FPA and to establish what kind of support is required.