Vulnerable residents evacuated from flooded Northern Cape regions

VULNERABLE community members - including the ill, elderly, pregnant women and schoolchildren - are being evacuated from the ZF Mgcawu District in the Northern Cape due to ongoing challenges posed by flooding and rising water levels in the Kai !Garib and Dawid Kruiper local municipalities.

Since the release of water from upstream dams on April 8, rising water levels along the Orange River have placed significant pressure on several communities, farmlands, and road networks in the Kai !Garib Municipality, said ZF Mgcawu communications manager Martha Clarke on Tuesday.

"Municipal teams, together with community volunteers, initiated awareness campaigns and began relocating vulnerable residents to stay with relatives and friends in safer areas outside the flood zones," she said.

She noted that several islands - including Perde Eiland, Meyers Island, Langklaas Island, Sand Island, Sandkop Island, George Island and others - have been submerged.

"Access routes in and around the affected areas have become hazardous. Authorities have had to close parts of the route to Cape Town to light vehicles due to dangerously high water levels,” said Clarke.

"The gravel road to Tierberg is also flooded. We strongly urge all road users to avoid these areas entirely, especially the Oranje Rivier 1 route, as crossing these flooded zones poses extreme safety risks. Safety and risk avoidance remain our top priority, and strict adherence to road closures is requested from the public." 

Clarke added that the Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality had taken early preventative measures to reduce the immediate impact on residents.

"The municipality launched a prevention campaign as soon as rising levels were forecast. However, the Duikweg route had to be closed due to encroaching waters and access to Reitzpark and the Eiland has now been restricted as these areas have also begun to flood.

“While we are grateful that no residential communities are currently under direct threat, a great deal of attention and resources are being directed toward safeguarding river-adjacent properties and preparing for any further developments. Dawid Kruiper has contingency plans in place and continues to assess conditions daily."

She stated that the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality was working closely with local municipalities, the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, and a multi-disciplinary network of partners - including various government departments, non-governmental organisations and private sector stakeholders - to ensure that support, relief, and safety interventions were available to those most in need.

"We want to thank our emergency response teams, municipal workers, community leaders, and every resident who has shown resilience and compassion in these difficult times.

"We urge all residents to remain alert, to follow official communication channels for updates and to avoid flooded or restricted areas for their own safety and the safety of others," Clarke said.