Some residents have taken to social media to express fears at a possibility of another dam bursting on the West Coast.

A resident said the Municipality has always known about potential hazards posed by the dams and did nothing.

Now increased rainfall has exposed the cracks of the beautiful small town on the West Coast, near Malmesbury.

Residents of Riverlands, Dassenberg and surrounds woke up to floods last week Thursday, as 3 dams burst, displacing about 444 people.
About 14 people were hospitalized, as a result.

In a statement, the Municipality said it is arranging for a visit by Home Affairs to assist residents who lost Identity documents and other paperwork in the flood.

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina visited Riverlands on Sunday.

In a statement, the Department confirmed the cause of the flood, was indeed three dams that failed breaching.

The Department then gave permission to the City of Cape Town to construct an emergency spillway on the fourth dam to route the flood and lower the risk of its failure.

All the four dams are not owned by the Department. However, because DWS exercises a regulatory function over all the dams in the country, it has since sent engineers on the ground to assist with normalising of the area.

Gift of the Givers also announced that it deployed two Isuzu-sponsored water tankers from Adelaide to the affected area.

The Municipality said in a statement that the status of the third dam is currently stable and is continuously monitored.  

Heinrich Robertson, Spokesperson of the Swartland Municipality said a spillway is being dug to reduce the dam levels. He also said engineers on site agree the other dam does not pose a risk.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS), and Dr Hoorn of the Severe Weather Service and Information Center (Swaicsa) have shared information about an imminent “mid -latitude cyclone /extratropical cyclone” west of Cape Town.
It is expected to bring along moderate to heavy rains.

SAWS has also issued a level 6 warning against damaging winds in parts of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro as from Wednesday this week, as well as a level 2 Warning for Southern KwaZulu-Natal, for Wednesday, the 14th August 2024.

Picture: Swartland Municipality

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