Since the start of heavy rains earlier this month, many areas around the Moretele local municipality in the North West, are heavily flooded causing lots of damages.
The local mayor Masango Manyike has visited affected areas, such as Maubane, Mathibestad, Mmotla and Makapanstad villages to assess the extent of damages, in order for the municipality to intervene.
More than 6 500 houses have been affected and many villagers sought assistance from neighbouring areas. Heavy rains have left a trail of destruction, damaging furnitures, roads and leaving families stranded.
Some community members are calling on the government to build bridges in low-lying areas.
The affected households are also trying to channel the water out of their houses and yards by digging trenches themselves. They also say if the rain continues, their houses may fall due to the floods.
However, some of the victims have welcomed government intervention, especially by bringing machinery to drain the flooded areas
Following his visit to some of the flooded areas, the local mayor, George Manyike, says the municipality has already sent teams of officials to assist those affected.
He says, “More than 500 houses in one village, Maubane are really affected, we are going to send disaster truck to drain the water out of the houses, 5-6 villages have been affected and then we have arranged a temporary v- drain in the meantime so that we can drain the water to the nearby river.”
Manyike says they are on the ground to be able to respond to the challenge of disaster that the people are facing, and his technical team is ensuring that they come up with a long-term solution as they might be experiencing more rains in the coming days.
He says, “You can see there is paving under construction. In the scope of the contractor, there are arrangements to have a v-drain. We have our technical director here, our municipal manager is here. They are still busy with the main stormwater drainages from the other side of the road, which is going to channel the water correctly to the right direction.”
According to the South African Weather Services, they are still expecting more rains in the coming days.
VIDEO: Meanwhile, Hammanskraal residents in the north of Pretoria bore the brunt of the heavy rainfall over the weekend:
