Africa-Press – Botswana. The overflowing of the Limpopo river has not only forced Martins Drift/ Groblersbrug border posts to temporarily close but has significantly impacted businesses situated along the river.
Various businesses such as restaurants, food vendors, shops, guest houses and fuel stations have been affected. At the moment Kwa Nokeng Lodge which is situated along the Limpopo river at the Martins Drift / Groblersbrug border posts has been temporarily closed.
Water has submerged buildings of the lodge and most of the structures within the lodge cannot be accessed. In an interview on Thursday the manager of Kwa Nokeng Lodge, Ms Doreen Phemelo said the closure of their business had paralysed operations.
She said they had to cancel bookings and inform customers of their closure. The lodge provides services such as accommodation, game drives and boat cruises. Ms Phemelo said though they managed to move some items from their buildings to a safer place, they would still incur costs because the buildings would need maintenance after assessing the extent of damage.
The overflow of the Limpopo River also affected some of the farmers near the river. The owner of Lucerne Fields farm in the Tuli Block area, Mr Jan Stiglingh said his workers were evacuated to a safe area as their accommodation submerged. He however said that his crops were not affected.
Acting customs manager at Martins Drift Border post, Mr Emmanuel Bagwisanyi said they were not sure when the border post would reopen because the South African border (Goblersbrug) was completely covered with a lot of water this time around, essentially submerging and making it inaccessible.
He said they evacuated some of the staff members to a guest house in Lerala because their houses were flooded. He said some were assisted with groceries by the Mahalapye Disaster Management Office.
This is the second time this year that the border post had suspended services at Martins Drift border Post after a similar closure in January due to flooding. Mr Bagwisanyi advised travellers and transport operators to use alternative ports of entry such as Tlokweng and Pioneer border posts.
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