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Two dead in Pretoria floods

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The Acting Mayor of Tshwane, Abel Tau, has confirmed that at least two people have died following floods in and around Pretoria.

Heavy rains have lashed Gauteng in the last week, causing water to rise in various areas. More than 700 informal settlements were washed away by flood water in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria on Monday.

On Tuesday, Minister of Co-operative Governance, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Human Settlements MEC, Lebogang Maile, visited the area to assess the extent of the damage.

Hundreds of displaced families have been given emergency supplies.

“One life was claimed in Centurion and another life was claimed by electrocution in the Eerste Fabriek area. The one child who went missing has been reunited with their family, and we do have about 1 200 people that are displaced in Tshwane. They are being housed. I think we should be grateful to the emergency services that have been up to the task so far,” says Tau.

Meanwhile, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has conceded that the current heavy downpours have posed a serious challenge for government.

She says while the rain was roundly welcomed to mitigate the prolonged draught effects and heat -the rain has since become excessive, leading to flash floods.

“If we have applied our minds clearer, we would have known, and should have cleaned up our dams quickly – because most of our dams are not in the state to absorb water. Some of the water that we have had would not be beneficial as it would have been. But we are learning with all our mistakes, next time we would make sure we first clean the dams. We have sent warning to our people to say those who are on same level as the river bed, please move up,” says Sisulu.

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