Hope fades for residents stranded in Klipvoor village after NW heavy downpours
The relentless rains brought devastation, flooded crops, dead livestock, and the collapse of the only bridge linking the community to the outside world.
Picture: © Anna Nikonorova/123rf.com
JOHANNESBURG - Three weeks after heavy downpours lashed parts of North West, hope is fading for residents stranded in Klipvoor village.
The relentless rains brought devastation, flooded crops, dead livestock, and the collapse of the only bridge linking the community to the outside world.
Learners can’t get to school, and the elderly and chronically ill have no way of reaching the nearest clinic, which is 10 kilometres away.
Despite attempts by city officials to repair the bridge and roads, little progress has been made.
It’s an annual struggle that forces dozens of families to pack up and leave, searching for safer ground.
Flooding is nothing new there, with makeshift rafts and swimming through muddy waters becoming a way of life.
Madibeng city officials said they’re working to restore access, but residents have lost faith.
“We are forgotten. That’s what I can tell you. We are forgotten. I mean, I don’t think even the president knows this place – even the mayor doesn’t know this place, I think.
"I think you should go to the municipality tomorrow and ask them, ‘Do you know Klipvoor?’ They’ll probably ask if it’s in Limpopo. Nobody knows this place.”
Several vehicles have been swept away, and the floodwaters show no sign of relenting.