Riverlands community wants govt to declare town a disaster area after second flooding incident
The community was flooded for a second time after the Water and Sanitation Department failed to redirect water away from residential areas when opening the fourth dam's spillways over the weekend.
The aftermath of flooding in Riverlands, near Malmesbury in the Western Cape, after three dam retention walls collapsed on 8 August 2024. Picture: Melikhaya Zagagana/EWN
CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape's Riverlands community has to wait for another 12 weeks before water supply is restored.
The community was flooded for a second time after the Water and Sanitation Department failed to redirect water away from residential areas when opening the fourth dam's spillways over the weekend.
Residents allege that the engineers excavated close to the dam walls, leading to another collapse.
Community leader Marlon Truter said that sewage was now running into people’s homes.
"The situation at the moment is that two towns are affected now, and no one is hearing the cries of the people. This is the worst situation we could find ourselves in because it's going to be delaying the process of getting people's running water back on."
The community has also called on national government to step in and declare the town a disaster area.
Riverlands Community wants national government to declare a national disaster in the are. pic.twitter.com/rTG5mDam0T
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) August 18, 2024