Flood fury: Moreleta Park residents demand compensation

Residents of Morelata Park are demanding answers and compensation from the Tshwane metro after devastating flood damage allegedly from a nearby reservoir last month.

Several homes in Wekker Street were flooded on Wednesday, July 24 evening when a nearby reservoir overflowed.

According to reports, the reservoir overflowed due to overfilling in advance of scheduled maintenance work by Rand Water, which was set to take place from July 26 to 29.

The flood reportedly damaged gardens, destroyed a boundary wall and damaged appliances in various homes.

An affected homeowner, Elsabe Coetzee said she was frustrated as this had also happened in 2018.

“The metro has allowed this to happen again, nothing changed, and no permanent preventative measure was put in place since the previous disaster.”

Coetzee said she was in Cape Town attending a seminar when she received a call from her husband informing her that the house was flooded and appliances were damaged.

“My husband said on the night of July 23 he heard water flowing and funny sounds. He thought it was the geyser filling with water, only to find a nasty surprise in the morning around 05:00.”

Coetzee said her husband was supposed to prepare the kids for school, only to find water overflowing in the house.

“My wooden floor has absorbed the water and is swollen and it can crack at any time. This means a lot of money to replace or fix.”

She said the appliances in her Wendy house also got damaged.

“We had locked up a lawn mower, compressor, hoover and other appliances which are all damaged by the water.”

She said the beds in her children’s room were wet.

“The furniture is all damaged, cupboards are also damaged, and what is stressful is that we are not sure if our home insurance will cover this.”

She said the metro needed to do better and dig a drain next to the reservoir to channel the water away.

Coetzee said she paid R10 000 just to get the water drained out of the house.

Now she is demanding Tshwane to pay for the damage.

Ward 47 councillor Lida Erasmus said she was aware of the situation and escalated it to the relevant authorities.

SEE DAMAGE HERE:

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city would look into improving the alarm system (early warning system).

Mashigo said all reservoirs have control systems hydraulically operated.

“The reservoir automatically closes when it gets full. In this instance, the altitude pilot valve failed, causing the reservoir to overflow,” Mashigo said.

He said the residents can claim for damage from the Tshwane metro.

“The complainant can complete a claim form and submit it to Tshwane’s Legal Department together with supporting documents.”

Mashigo said the metro will then submit the claim to its broker for assessment.

“The verdict on the outcome of the claim will be informed by the investigation conducted by the Water and Sanitation Department,” Mashigo said.

Mashigo said the broker will then make a final decision on the claim based on applicable delictual principles.

He said in terms of the drain, the city is currently running a programme to clean its drainage systems.

“In this case, there was debris that blocked the drainage system hence the water flooded the homes,” he said.

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