The Swartland Municipality is blaming the Department of Water specialists for the burst of a fourth dam.
In a statement, the Municipality said, the Department’s engineers, decided to forge ahead with work during a rainy season, lowering dam levels via a newly dug spillway, which triggered the fast release of water.
Riverlands is flooded again, after 444 people were rescued and 14 transported to hospital, when three dams breached in the early hours of the 08th August 2024.
Swartland Municipality evacuated residents of Riverlands, on Saturday.
Heinrich Robertson, Spokesperson of the Swartland Municipality, said the Department said the Municipality was to release water slowly from the dam, to minimise the risk of possible flooding, but this failed.
The Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation said in its own statement on Saturday, about the dam burst, that firstly, 3 dams were reported to have breached, but its engineers discovered another dam.
“Upon the arrival of engineers from the Department, they noticed a slip on the downstream face, which is threatened the stability of the embankment.”
The Department said its engineers then engaged the owners of the dam, and mobilized DWS Construction South to further lower the dam to reduce the risk of failure.
Janine Esau and Charmaine Dirks, residents of Riverlands, have taken to social media, asking for prayer.
Picture: Hein Marais