Tshwane residents hit hard by floods caused by heavy rainfall Photo @CityTshwane
Tshwane – Residents of Centurion have once more been hit hard by recent floods caused by heavy rainfall. Residents in Eerste Fabriek were affected after The Pienaarsrivier and the Hennops River overflowed.
Eerste Fabriek resident and community leader, Prince Leshiba pleaded with the municipality to help move them to a safer area. Tshwane EMS spokesperson Charles Mabaso says an estimated 60 people sought higher ground following floods in the area. However, he expressed shock and confusion that attempts by rescuers was met by heavy resistance.
“Two SAPS choppers conducted an aerial assessment of the area and identified about 60 people on rooftops of their dwellings. The people, however, when the members of the SAPS and rescue teams tried to evacuate them, hauled insults at the teams and threw objects at them.”
A Twitter user opined about the situation, “Those guys don’t want to go anywhere. I remember several efforts were taken to assist them but they refused the offer. So, just leave them and direct those resources somewhere else.”
The city of Tshwane has made efforts to evacuate people who are being sheltered in Nelmapius Hall. Communities and local businesses have worked together in flood relief efforts donating funds and foods.
Councilor Nomvula Seelane was seen addressing flood victims in Mamelodi and efforts to evacuate residents with busses was met with harsh criticism from residents of other areas. “Y’all wasting state resources! Everyone who grew up in Mamelodi knows very well that that place is not for dwelling, moreover, those people have been removed there more than I can count, however they keep going back,” read a tweet.
The Disaster Management Centre was activated on Saturday when it became clear that normal rescue services would not be sufficient to handle the severity of the situation. Members worked throughout the night. Residents say although floods are experienced yearly, this is one of the worst they have seen in a long time. Residents are also without electricity, having no power from 12 hours up to three days. There are concerns that these floods could cause extensive damage to businesses as the 2019 floods.
Executive Mayor Randall Williams, in a statement assured residents “it was all hands-on deck” and the city was doing its best to help citizens.
Speaking to local resident Ivan Breytenbach, he explained that the flooding could be due to its proximity to the rivers, how low the area is and it being built on floodplains.
“Centurion is extremely flat. Honestly, whenever there is a substantial amount of rain, the streets are rivers. Centurion is in a terrible geographical position. It’s infrastructure has been built on and around floodplains and that doesn’t bode well for it.”
The Disaster Management Centre was activated on Saturday when it became clear that normal rescue services would not be sufficient to handle the severity of the situation Photo – @CityTshwane
Breytenbach also pointed out that a place called “the new east” which is situated on
the outskirts of Pretoria East is now suffering from the same problems.
“The main issue is that the developers built as much as they could in the area by building estates, schools and businesses. The municipality welcomed the tax revenue and never bothered to think about developing infrastructure to sustain all this. Now there are discussions between the municipality and the developers over a regulation forcing developers to build infrastructure to accommodate the traffic increase that it provides.”
Motorists have been cautioned to take care when driving on Nelmapius Road in Tshwane and to avoid crossing the low-lying water bridges in the area.
