Staff Reporter.
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from Komani (formerly Queenstown) after the Komani River overflowed causing flooding in the Eastern Cape town.
It was mostly low-lying areas that were affected by the flooding.
The Chris Hani District Municipality said that its disaster management team was evacuating people in danger.
There doesn’t seem to be any respite either. An orange level-5 warning for disruptive rain was issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Wednesday.
Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said the extent of the damage was being assessed and that no deaths had been reported.
“Severe rainfall in Komani has caused flooding in some areas and overflow of the Komani River. This happened in the early hours of the morning [on] Wednesday, affecting surrounding areas and flow of traffic,” he said.
Some streets, including Perlem Road and Griffiths Street, and flooded bridges had been closed, said Kowa.
“Floods mostly affected low-lying areas, with the disaster management team assisting to evacuate those in danger.
“The disaster management team is assessing the extent of damages and traffic officials monitoring the situation controlling traffic flow and providing alternative routes.”
Free State, Gauteng, parts of Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal will experience rainfall of up to 80% on Wednesday, according to the SA Weather Service.
For the eastern parts of the North West, Free State and Northern Cape, a yellow level 2 warning for heavy rains was issued.
A yellow level 2 means the rainfall is localised, while orange level 5 means the weather conditions are widespread.
“The impact [of the weather conditions] is not minimal where a yellow level 2 warning is issued. It means it will be isolated in the same area. The impact is severe, where we have an orange level 5, but it will be widespread.
“It has nothing to do with the severity of the weather,” the weather office said.
Motorists have been advised to exercise caution on the roads.
“It is not advisable to drive in flooded areas because you don’t know what might be underneath the waterlog. There must be enough distance between cars… don’t speed, so you can see what is happening in the front,” said the weather service.
Meanwhile Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has committed to work with all relevant stakeholders in the troubled Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality to address the community’s concerns, including calls for a its dissolution.
“The community raised concerns mainly related to service delivery challenges and urged the Minister to intervene by placing the municipality under Section 139 (7) as the current intervention in terms of Section 139 (1) and (5) of the Constitution is not yielding the desired results,” the department said in a statement.
The municipality has been in a prolonged financial and service delivery crisis. It was last year flagged by the Auditor General as one of the municipalities not functioning to capacity
In 2018, the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Council intervened, in terms of S139(1) and S139(5) of the Constitution.
According to a report tabled before Parliament last year, a financial recovery plan was developed for the municipality, but the implementation thereof did not yield the desired results. The previous municipal council failed to play its oversight role.
Parliament in September heard that that municipality’s financial crisis was persistent, with material breach of its obligations to provide basic services. It also failed to honour its financial commitments, a state of affairs that necessitated national government intervention.