Municipalities assist flood victims in Mankweng and surrounding areas
Over 100 households were affected by heavy thunderstorms in the Mankweng and surrounding areas on Sunday.
POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality with the assistance of the district municipality, donated blankets and salvage sheets to households affected by heavy thunderstorms in the Mankweng and surrounding areas on Sunday.
Heavy rains in the area led to parts of the R71 flooded between White River and Mathiba’s Kraal as well as Mamadimo and Moremadi Park, leaving serveral families displaced. Flooding was also reported near Paledi Mall and Turfloop.
Municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala says most of the houses affected had their roofs damaged and the municipality have provided salvage sheets as temporary intervention.
“A total of 100 households in Makotopong were assisted with salvage sheets, eight in Sebayeng, six in Mantheding, 13 in Ga-Mothapo and 10 in Ha-Mashashane,” he said.
Several videos have since been circulating on social media that show extensive flooding in the area with residents calling on the municipality to intervene given the area’s proneness to flooding.
In Mzansi we are going through the most, yerrrr. O sa re o dealer le Loadshedding then boom pula ya na strong. But people need to respect heavy rains. Situation ya R71 in Ga-Makanye, Mankweng @TrafficSA @Powerfm987 #PowerBreakfast @ThabisoTema pic.twitter.com/22v51ETK5B
— Letsoalo 🐃🇿🇦 (@NapjadiLetsoalo) November 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/KBFthetwins/status/1457364438156197889
Following heavy rains in the area in 2019 the municipality, at the time, said overflows experienced were in houses/yards situated near down-stream borders of residential areas where runoff accumulates.
In most house floodings, damage was caused in down stream yards where walls were not provided with weep holes to allow quick discharge of rain water.
On Tuesday Selala told BONUS that Mamadimo Park was a challenge as most houses were built in a flood zone.
“The municipality continues to assess the area and once an assessment is complete, we will engage the province for intervention,” he said.
Selala said measures are in place should more flooding occur.
“Just like we coordinated after heavy rains in Seshego in 2020, we have engaged with disaster management authorities to be ready should such a situation arise again,” he said.
In the meantime, an emergency line for affected households has been set up by the municipality: 015 293 1111/015 293 1112.
