Bush encroachment, (i.e. disproportionate woody vegetation increase at the cost of grassland) has negative impacts for biodiversity conservation and tourism by homogenising habitat structure and decreasing grazing and game-viewing. While herbivory, rainfall, and CO2 all influence changes in woody vegetation cover, fire has the best potential for vegetation management. Changes in fire management can either encourage or suppress bush encroachment and a better understanding of how changes in fire regime affect vegetation structure is needed. Therefore, this study addressed three questions: (a) how has woody cover changed over two decades (1999–2019); (b) what is the role of land use, rainfall, and fire in influencing woody cover change; and (c) what are the management implications? Keywords: woody vegetation, repeat photography, fire management, remote sensing, vegetation change, bush encroachment, savannas, MODIS, EVI.