Limpopo's department of public works is having to take money from other programmes to enable it to fix roads
The Limpopo department of public works, roads and infrastructure needs a staggering R1.7 billion to address the aftermath of the floods that left destroyed houses, roads, bridges, schools and public infrastructure and left 19 people dead in Limpopo since December.
Department doesn’t have money to fix flood damage
Speaking at the sidelines of the assessment process in Phalaborwa on Thursday, public works, roads and infrastructure MEC Ernest Rachoene said the department does not have enough money to rebuild the infrastructure after the floods.
This figure, he said, remains an estimate as comprehensive assessments could not be completed due to the continued heavy rainfall across the province.
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Rachoene said that while waiting for external support, his department is reprioritising its budget across programmes to enable immediate road repairs in critical areas.
“This approach is intended to ensure that any assistance from the national government will augment the ongoing provincial efforts rather than replace them. In the meantime, cost centres have been activated to begin reconnecting affected communities where possible… These interventions were already yielding positive results in areas such as Tswinga, the Sekhukhune and Mopani districts.”
The MEC, who is a former Limpopo ANC Youth League provincial chair, said some parts of Mopani, Sekhukhune and Vhembe had no connectivity.
“But we can now say the connectivity is now temporarily restored by in-house teams as an interim measure. We have begun since the height of the vicious floods to visit every area and we are continuing to assess the damage caused by these floods in other areas,” he said.
19 people lose lives in floods
MEC for cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs Basikopo Makamu this week reported that 19 people in Limpopo lost their lives due to the floods.
The MEC said this comes after the discovery of a body of a male person in the Ba-Phalaborwa area, believed to be linked to the drowning incidents due to the inclement weather.
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“The two boys, aged 15 and 17, drowned while swimming at the Selati River at Mashishimale village, bringing the total number of missing bodies to six due to heavy rains. Preliminary confirmation indicates that the body is for one of the two boys who were swept away from Mashishimale on Monday 19 January 2026.
“We are now working jointly with sister departments such as social development, Saps and emergency management service agencies, as well as municipalities, to preserve lives and bring back the human dignity of our citizens during this rainy season. I want to express my sadness and regret at the loss of lives because one death is one too many.”
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