The City of Cape Town has sent a team of engineers to assist in Malmesbury where a critical dam wall failed, leading to extensive flooding downstream in the communities of Riverlands and Dassenberg.
The Swartland Municipality’s Fire and Rescue and law enforcement services managed to save 15 people at the weekend, while 50 households suffered damage caused by the flooding.
Cape Town Mayco member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said a follow-up on-site meeting was held yesterday to see how they could assist.
“Although the dams in question do not belong to the City of Cape Town, the City assisted in the form of consulting engineering services.
“At this stage of the investigation, the dam safety engineer and civil engineering team conducted a site investigation, from August 8-9 to ascertain the extent of damage and provisional mitigation steps to be undertaken.
“A follow-up on-site meeting was arranged (yesterday) with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Dam Safety Office and the Approved Professional Person,” said Badroodien.
With a yellow level 1 warning issued for damaging winds between Cape Columbine along the West Coast and Cape Agulhas today, the Swartland Municipality said it was continuing humanitarian aid to those affected by the Riverlands dam wall.
“The wall of the third dam in a series of four dams gave way and took out the second and the first dam, causing extensive flooding and damages to the area of Riverlands and greater Chatsworth.
“Mitigation efforts to ensure the safety of the fourth dam are continuing with a slipway being dug to reduce the dam levels.
“This dam is continuously being monitored and engineers on site agree that it does not currently pose a risk.
“Swartland Municipality wants to make it clear that these dams do not and never have belonged to the municipality.
“The dams are located on a farm belonging to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. This property and the location of the dams fall within the jurisdiction of the City of Cape Town.
“These are dams used for farming and were not used in any way by the municipality for water supply,” the Swartland Municipality said.
There are currently 94 people being housed in the Riverlands POP Centre and the Love Church.
The Swartland Municipality’s department of social development is aiding in the relief effort and helping to distribute food, clothes and sanitary products.
Meanwhile, engineers from the Western Cape Department of Local Government are also conducting an on-site assessment on the extent of damage to infrastructure.
Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said: “Initial reports indicate that the flooding was caused when the dam wall, of the middle of three farm dams, failed.
“This caused a sudden inflow into the dam situated below, causing this dam wall to also fail, resulting in significant flooding in parts of Riverlands and Dassenberg settlements outside Malmesbury.
“The third dam, situated upstream of the two failed dams, is currently being inspected by engineers to assess its safety.”
Cape Argus