Displacement, severe property and infrastructure damage, a cut in electricity and water supply came as a result of severe flooding ripping through the Dassenberg and Riverlands communities outside Malmesbury, after three dams breached and their walls subsequently failed.
On Friday, the old Kalbaskraal Road in the direction of Abbotsdale was temporarily closed due to flooding, as well as low water bridges in Kalbaskraal, coming from the N7, and in Dalsig, Malmesbury.
The public was urged to use alternative routes and to avoid flooded roads and fast-flowing water.
Relief, rescue, and rehabilitation operations were underway in Riverlands, after three dams on the property known as Dassenberg breached, and resulted in severe flooding.
Operations were co-ordinated by the Swartland Municipality in partnership with the West Coast Disaster Management Centre, government departments and non-governmental organisations.
Spokesperson for West Coast Disaster Management, Heinrich Robertson, said following intense investigations on Thursday, it was found that a third dam in a series of four dams had initiated the breach, resulting in the first and second dams being overwhelmed, leading to extensive and devastating flooding affecting Riverlands.
As of yesterday, the fourth dam was stable and being continuously monitored. Efforts to partially drain it as a precautionary measure, were due to start.
Robertson said over the past few weeks, the area has received significantly more rainfall than normal.
“The immediate need now is humanitarian relief and repairing municipal services to the area. An investigation will be done by experts, led by the National Department of Water Affairs, to determine the cause of the dam wall break and how to mitigate similar risk in future.”
The flood caused severe property and infrastructure damage and the water network and supply was destroyed, leaving the town without potable water.
On Thursday, water supply to Chatsworth and Riverlands was interrupted.
Water trucks were sent out to both towns with the Riverlands truck based at Riverlands Primary School and Chatsworth’s truck roaming.
The Swartland Municipality supported by the Drakenstein Municipality and the District Municipality will supply water on a temporary basis until the network has been restored.
Fourteen people required medical attention and were transported to the Swartland Hospital with minor injuries or hypothermia and 224 people were housed at a local church and the Thusong Centre. Some families were allowed to return to their homes.
On Friday, no evacuations were required and clean-up operations are expected to continue throughout the weekend.
On Thursday morning, the Swartland Municipality said the severe flooding incident occurred during the early hours of Thursday, when a dam located on a property known as Dassenberg, breached resulting in severe flooding in parts of Riverlands and Dassenberg, outside Malmesbury in the direction of Cape Town.
Multiple agencies including Disaster Management teams from the West Coast and Swartland Municipalities were activated, these included Fire and Rescue and law enforcement services.
Disaster relief organisation Gift of the Givers (GOTG) were at the scene to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to the affected communities.
Early on Thursday morning, GOTG Project manager Ali Sablay said: “GOTG teams have been called in the early hours of the morning by the residents of Dassenberg and Riverlands, informing us that the Riverlands dam wall has collapsed, destroying a number of homes and leaving thousands of people displaced. We were then called by the Swartland District Municipality and the local Disaster Risk Management teams asking for our urgent assistance as the first light comes out, they would have to be evacuating people, as many people are stranded. Our GOTG teams are en-route to assist the community with urgent humanitarian aid and our teams will do assessments, once on the ground.”
On Thursday, Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell expressed gratitude to the West Coast Disaster Management Centre and Swartland Municipality for the prompt and effective response.
“Swartland Fire and Rescue and Law Enforcement Services managed to save 15 people through their rapid response early Thursday morning. Injured persons have been assessed for near-drowning and transported to nearby hospitals for observation and further treatment. At the moment, no fatalities or missing persons have been reported. We are currently aware of 50 households that suffered damages caused by the flooding.”
Engineers from the Department of Local Government were on site to conduct damage assessments.
“We urge residents to stay safe and remain vigilant, as the South African Weather Service has predicted more rainfall for the coming weekend. We ask that community members remain calm and follow the instructions of emergency officials on the ground,” Bredell said.
Water and Sanitation portfolio chairperson, Leon Basson, raised concern over dam safety.
“The collapse of the Riverlands dam wall is symptomatic of shortcomings regarding dam safety across the board. It is necessary for the Department of Water and Sanitation to enhance their monitoring capabilities to ensure adequate safety standards for its own dams and enhance monitoring of private dams to ensure that the safety of people downstream is not threatened,” he said in statement.
The committee previously raised concerns over the backlog of 474 Dam Safety Evaluation (DSE) reports from the department, and that this meant that the department was unaware of the safety conditions of 474 dams and therefore unable to recommend interventions or conduct dam safety compliance monitoring inspections.
“It is important that these dam safety evaluation reports are concluded to enhance the safety of communities. The committee will in the near future request the department provide an update on eradicating the identified backlog of dam safety evaluation reports,” Basson said.
The Chairperson has also called on the Department of Water and Sanitation to dispatch a team to do an analysis of the walls at the dam, especially with an expected cold front approaching.
In a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, on November 1, 2022, it was found that there were currently 5 662 registered dams with a safety risk, of which 79% are owned by the Agricultural sector. The majority of these dams are in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
There were approximately 2 420 of the registered dams classified as Category II/III and subjected to compulsory DSE’s every 5 years.
Of the top 20 largest dams owned by the Department of Water and Sanitation, only two dams were compliant with Dam Safety Evaluations requirements (10%).
-Weekend Argus
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