Recent heavy rain in Mpumalanga resulted in the Lowveld National Botanical Garden experiencing extensive damage and it was forced to temporarily close to the public.

The garden’s interpretation officer, Lou-Nita le Roux Joubert, who has spent just under 20 years in its service, and its former senior horticulturist, Willem Froneman, who had worked there for 32 years, say they had never in all their years seen the amount of damage and extremely high water levels at the garden that they saw in recent days.

Le Roux Joubert explains that although the vehicle bridge used to enter the garden had been built above the high-water level, with potential flooding in mind, the Crocodile River had flooded the surface of the bridge, washing debris and even a tree trunk onto the structure.

Froneman says he had been working at the garden during the floods of 2000, and that the water level had reached half a metre under the vehicle bridge at the time, but did not flood it.

“Even the viewpoint area in the garden was not flooded [in 2000]. The water just touched the barrier. This recent flood saw the water wash right into the area. The power of the water is unbelievable and I have never seen anything like this before,” Froneman adds.

The barrier was also damaged, but the pedestrian bridge was the hardest hit with a third of it breaking off and washing into the Crocodile River.

Le Roux Joubert told Lowvelder that an assessor from head office had travelled from Pretoria to assess the damage to the garden and structures.

Communication officer Mandisa Ndlovu says garden management decided last Sunday to close the garden to the and it was reopened yesterday.

Mbombela local Alicia Whitting was in the Lowveld National Botanical Garden last Sunday, before it was closed to the public, to capture the water ravaging its way through the area.

Watch the video here: