Fire & Climate
Western Cape wildfires 2026
The worst fire season in a decade, from the first January flare-ups to the count of what burned.
Where it stands
The verdict
How it unfolded
The timeline
Context
Background reading
Since then
What happened next
The live data behind this story
These pages keep updating after the articles were written.
Keep reading
Related stories
-
The state of the city, 2026
Water, fire, energy, housing, crime and transport: where Cape Town actually stands this year, one article per challenge.
8 articles updated 3 Aug 2026 -
Water and the dams
Years after Day Zero: what the dam levels, the rainfall and the driest July since 1958 actually say.
5 articles updated 21 Oct 2026 -
Load shedding, from crisis to disappearance
How years of rolling blackouts stopped, what actually changed on the grid, and what drives demand now.
7 articles updated 28 Sep 2026
