Umgeni Water has cautioned residents around the banks of the Hazelmere Dam, north of Durban, to stay away from low-lying rivers in the area.
The ongoing heavy downpours have caused dam levels to rise rapidly to above 60 percent.
Umgeni water spokesperson Shami Harrichunder says an emergency water release on Tuesday will restore the dam to normal levels.
He says this will take place over five days, “We are cautioning communities living on the banks of the Umdloti River to please stay away from the river because the level of the river will rise rapidly as water is being released from Hazelmere Dam. It poses a serious risk to personal safety of anybody who goes close to the river. People should not even attempt to cross the river while the releases are taking place because they could get easily washed away. So the releases will begin and continue until we get to 53 percent. The releases will place take at least for the next five days from the dam itself. So for that period of time, we want people to stay away from this river for their own safety.”
Rains to continue
The South African Weather Service expects the rain to continue until Wednesday over the central and eastern parts of the country.
Two killed in KZN due to flooding:
It says there will be cold temperatures of around 10 degrees in Gauteng, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal due to the snowfall in the central part of the country.
Disaster management teams in KwaZulu-Natal are responding to several incidents as heavy rains continue unabated in the province.
The provincial Co-operative Governance Department’s spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila has urged residents to be vigilant.
