Heavy rains cause flooding
CITY residents whose homes were once again flooded during heavy storms week this week, turned their anger on the premier, Sol Plaatje executive mayor and Speaker for “turning a blind eye” to their suffering.
Residents living in Revelation Road in Galeshewe stated that they were unable to sleep or go to work on Wednesday after their yards and streets were flooded.
“All our furniture is wet. We are caring for small babies and our children who are busy writing tests could not go to school. We cannot use our outside toilets as they are also flooded,” the residents said.
They criticised their ward councillor for “running away” and for not attending to their problems.
“The mayor and the premier never bothered to show their ugly faces here because they are sitting in their posh houses and air-conditioned offices. They don’t care about us. Every time it rains, we experience the same problem. The water is ice cold and we will become sick. They are quick to ask for our votes but when they are in power, they eat alone. We cannot enjoy the rain and it looks like more rain is on the way.”
The residents pointed out that they were still waiting for compensation after the Tlhageng dam burst and they suffered flood damage.
“Officials laugh at us and send us from pillar to post when we ask the municipality for our money. They called us to collect our money in August last year, but by January we were told that there is no money.
“A budget was allocated to fix the dam and we only saw workers here cleaning the area in 2021. An engineer visited the area once and disappeared. They told us that the drains are blocked because of dumping, but it is just normal here. Three houses in the street were elevated but they are still submerged when it rains. Our houses should be declared a disaster area. How long must we live in these deplorable conditions?”
A local pensioner, Cecil April, said that he assisted in draining the waterlogged area by clearing the drains.
“I was previously employed at Sol Plaatje Municipality as a builder.”
April said that the water had reached knee-height during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Another resident, Siva Binase, who resides in Absalom Street, added that his furniture was also damaged by the rain.
“The Tlhageng dam overflows during heavy rains. Two of my televisions were damaged and I am still waiting for a payout after I put in a claim at the municipality.”
Sol Plaatje Municipality Speaker Nomizizi Maputle indicated that most of the affected houses were situated near a water canal that flooded when it rained.
“It overflows because the drain becomes blocked due to illegal dumping. We are looking at connecting the stormwater drain to the Snake Park system. It is a long-term solution as we do not currently have the funds. An amount of R1 million is needed to divert the stormwater,” said Maputle.
She added that the drain was cleared during 2020/21.
“The dam would not overflow if the drains were not blocked. We appeal to the community not to dump but to leave their refuse, garden and building rubble in black bags for collection.”
Maputle said the municipality was working on improving its collection rate to raise the necessary funds.
“Currently, we are at a 74 percent collection rate, which is below the Treasury guidelines of 90 percent.”
She stated that in the meantime the municipality would send a team to Revelation Road to suck up the excess water.
Sol Plaatje Municipality is consulting with legal advisers after a R5 million insurance claim to cover the flood damage of houses in wards 7 and 17, near the Tlhageng dam, was rejected due to a “general lack of maintenance” and failure of the municipality to take the necessary precautions to prevent flooding.
Video: Soraya Crowie