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11 months ago
17
Flooding is seen in Macassar, Western Cape.
- More than 110 Western Cape roads affected by flooding over the long weekend in September have been reopened.
- All but one affected school reopened after the holidays.
- The province is in the process of applying for the declaration of a provincial state of disaster.
The process of having a provincial state of disaster declared after the September storm in the province is likely to "take time", Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell told the Western Cape cabinet on Wednesday.
He was addressing Premier Alan Winde, members of the cabinet, and provincial government officials on efforts to repair and reopen roads, and fix other infrastructure after they were severely damaged in the storm and ensuing flooding.
Bredell said administrative progress was being made.
He pointed out that provincial state of disaster classification after flooding that hit the province in June had been received from the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) and was being gazetted.
An application has been submitted for the September flooding but "these processes take time", he added.
The storm damaged more than 150 roads, including sections of the N2 and N1, which were closed immediately.
All but 37 roads have since been reopened.
Work to repair damage to Clarence Drive, Hemel-en-Aarde Road, the R43 and R44 intersection near Kleinmond, and Franschhoek Pass is ongoing.
Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers said:
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has started work on repairing the section of the N2 in the vicinity of Botrivier which was washed away, and they report that they are hoping to reopen the road by the end of November.
He added that the provincial government had "once again proven to be efficient by restoring, rebuilding, and reopening multiple roads that were severely damaged within record time".
Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said officers had been redeployed during the flooding, "over and above the usual pressures of long weekend operations", and had worked more than 1 000 hours of overtime overall.
The inclement weather also left more than 82 000 people without power.
This number was reduced to only 1 000 faults within a week after the flooding.
The Overstrand municipality suffered damages to major bulk water infrastructure during the September floods, and Hermanus and its surrounds were without any piped water in the aftermath.
The Gift of the Givers intervened in McGregor in the Western Cape which has been cut off for more than a week, after heavy rains and flooding damaged the bridge connecting the town to Robertson.
The bridge to McGregor in the Western Cape has been reopened after the community was cut off during recent flooding in the province.
Flooding affected some parts of the Western Cape.
The municipality managed to connect water supplies within a week.
A number of schools were also affected, and all but one school was able to open as normal after the school holidays.
Pupils and teachers from Sandhills NGK Primary School, which suffered serious damages, are being accommodated at alternate sites so that teaching and learning can continue while repairs are under way.
It was estimated that the most recent flooding resulted in nearly R1.4 billion in damages in the agricultural sector.
Mireille Wenger, Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC, added: "We have experienced the devastation caused by the severe storms and rainfall over the heritage weekend, which forced businesses to close, resulting in millions of rands worth of lost revenue on top of the losses and damage sustained to property."
