It will cost at least R158 million to repair flood damage in Makana. This emerged as Council officially declared Makana a disaster area after days of heavy rains extensively damaged homes, roads and electricity
and water infrastructure.
It will cost at least R158 million to repair flood damage in Makana. This emerged as Council officially declared Makana a disaster area after days of heavy rains extensively damaged homes, roads and electricity
and water infrastructure.
A desperate picture emerged at an emergency special council meeting yesterday, where councillors reported on flood destruction in their wards.
With new information coming in all the time, there were already reports of severe hardship, with people forced to abandon crumbling homes and roads turned into watercourses, making large tracts inaccessible.
“Due to the recent flood damage recorded, it is recommended that Council declares a state of local disaster for the Makana area,” Acting Municipal Manager Thembinkosi Myalato recommended in his report to Council yesterday.
Council approved his recommendation that municipal funds be redirected to clear stormwater drains, patch roads and repair damage to electricity infrastructure.
Nomhle Gaga, Technical Services Portfolio Chairperson, said they are not sure of the costs yet, “The technical team is still doing an assessment, but we estimate the damage to go up to R158 million or more and this is just an estimate.
Among the more serious problems residents now face are water outages due to technical problems at the Waainek treatment plant. During yesterday’s meeting, Myalato apologised to the community, saying they hoped to restore the water supply soon.
Explaining that Council had been mandated by the provincial legislature to declare the municipality a disaster area, Speaker Rachel Madinda-Isaac said councillors should inform residents about the water situation. “We have printed notices informing people that there will be no water. Councillors must make sure that these notices are circulated in their constituencies,” she said.
Earlier yesterday during a press conference, Acting Executive Mayor Piryawaden Ranchhod said rains in had severely damaged roads and had left areas inaccessible. He said the assessment team had
found many informal dwellings in Grahamstown East had leaking roofs and dozens of mud houses had collapsed.
“As the council of Makana we have acted swiftly… working together to assess the damage caused by the heavy rains,” Ranchhod said. “The municipality has set up a Joint Operation Committee consisting of officials from government and ward councillors”.
Another area critically damaged was Farmerfield, in Ward 13, near Salem. Ranchhod said as of yesterday the road to the area was virtually impassable as only 4×4 vehicles could get through.
It is reported that residents had no food for days. He said the Mayor, Zamuxolo Peter, had visited the area yesterday. “We are being assisted by [national roads agency]Sanral to build a detour road that can be used between Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth.
We have asked if they can put it on a 24-hour shift, because Grahamstown cannot be isolated economically. "It is going to take time to reconstruct the damaged road and we ask motorists to exercise extreme caution when using it,” said Ranchhod.
Local Government MEC Mlibo Qhoboshiyane and Eastern Cape Roads and Public Works Minister Thandiswa Marawu visited Makana on Tuesday to personally assess the flood damage. Also in town was a team of engineers from the Cacadu Disaster Management Centre.
Council’s draft disaster report will be further updated before being submitted to the Cacadu Disaster Management Centre, Myalato said yesterday. Cacadu would submit the report to the province, and the municipality would then wait for the Premier’s office to make a decision.
At yesterday morning’s press briefing, Ranchhod thanked Grahamstown businesses and organisations who had worked with the municipality to collect food parcels and blankets for people affected by the floods.
The municipality estimates that around 41 households in Grahamstown East were severely affected. Gaga thanked the Department of Health for assisting them during visits to the affected areas.
