Flooding and persistently heavy rains have wreaked damage across the nation. The provinces of Mpumalanga, North West, and KwaZulu-Natal have been impacted by the harsh weather.
Some of the farmers’ grazing areas, according to Vaal River bank farmers in the Northern Cape, have already flooded. This came when the Vaal Dam’s 12 sluice gates were opened on Saturday by the Water and Sanitation Agency.
According to the department, significant rains in a few provinces, particularly Gauteng, forced it to open the gates. Juan Pierre Harmse, a cattle farmer who is impacted, claims that his animals are in danger due to the rising water levels.
Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane of Mpumalanga has assessed the extent of the damage by visiting some of the flood-affected regions in Mbombela and Nkomazi. At Nkomazi, where about four individuals are still missing, the majority of rivers have broken their banks, dams are overflowing, and several bridges are flooded.
Over 300 people are presently staying in temporary shelters after being uprooted.
The Premier has attributed the flooding on the inadequate drainage infrastructure. “We need to be open and honest. When you consider the local scenario, the damage is not as terrible as you might think. Instead, there are infrastructural issues that need to be fixed.”
Six households have since been relocated from the Lekwa River’s banks in Standerton as a result of the excessive downpour. Emergency assistance is being provided to the families at the town’s community center. Thobeka Mtshiselwa, the Lekwa Municipality’s director of community services, claims that the water levels have dropped. The authorities are determining the amount of the damage, according to Mtshiselwa.
Residents of the flooded Deelpan hamlet in Mahikeng are reportedly being relocated, according to authorities in the North West. The region has once again been flooded by strong rains after flooding twice last year. According to the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, efforts are being made to convince villagers in the wetland-affected community to evacuate.
Due to flooding caused by severe rain, the town of Ladysmith in the KwaZulu-Natal province remained closed. Several petrol stations, quick food outlets, and grocery stores are still closed.According to the KSD municipality, Coffee Bay may have been the area most seriously affected, with roughly 10 bridges severely destroyed, displacing whole towns and cutting them off from the network.
On Sunday, search and rescue efforts for the six persons who have been reported missing in the Eastern Cape’s King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality are anticipated to get under way. A lady and her two children were among the six persons that perished at Coffee Bay due to severe rainfall and subsequent floods.