Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Namakwa District Municipality will convene a special council meeting on Monday to declare it a disaster area after at least four people died in flooding over the past week.
In a statement, Namakwa Mayor Mervin Cloete said the area had been affected by exceptionally high rainfall, with the sub-regions of Hantam and Karoo Highlands receiving unprecedented rainfall two to three weeks ago.
The rainfall caused extensive flood damage, added Cloete.
In the last week, flooding left the Kamiesberg, Nama Khoi and Richtersveld municipalities cut off due to damaged roads, he said.
Five people were reported missing after being swept away by the Buffels River. Four bodies were later recovered by the police’s search and rescue unit.
Cloete said a joint forum had been established to allow for continuous evaluation of the current situation.
The forum will inform the public of plans to restore infrastructure.
The municipality is also partnering with other organisations, such as Gift of the Givers, to provide relief to affected households.
Gift of the Givers was providing humanitarian relief to areas affected by flooding, said its operations manager, Ali Sablay.
He added the heavy rain had destroyed “roads, bridges and infrastructure”, cutting off around 10 000 people in Kamiesberg, Namakhoi, Richtersveld, Kommagas, Kleinsee, Buffelsrivier, Rooiwal and Vioolsdrift.
Requests for assistance had also come from communities in Calvinia, Nieuwoudtville, Middlepos and Sutherland.
Sablay said:
He added blankets, clothing, food, hygiene packs and bottled water were en route from Johannesburg and Cape Town to Springbok, which will be used as Gift of the Givers’ operational centre.
The flooding comes after the municipality declared a drought almost a year ago.
On Thursday, a section of the N7, near Vioolsdrift in the Northern Cape was closed due to flooding.
The SA National Roads Agency told the Northern Cape Bulletin several road closures had been put in place due to severe flooding.
The Northern Cape was not the only province to experience severe weather last week.
In KwaZulu-Natal, seven people died, and another seven were reported missing following severe weather in the province.
According to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, two people died in Cato Manor, one in Durban North and another in Pinetown, while two bodies were recovered in Bayhead on Tuesday afternoon.
Another body was recovered in Port Shepstone.
News24 previously reported about 70 houses in eThekwini were completely destroyed and a further 110 damaged. This affected 552 people and left 151 homeless.
In the Ugu District Municipality, one house was destroyed and three partially damaged, affecting 29 people. One person was left homeless.
Damage was also reported at 10 schools.
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