Work under way to control water levels at Senteeko Dam


Efforts are under way to manage water levels at the My Own Dam, also known as Senteeko Dam, outside Barberton, Mpumalanga.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina says engineers are on-site to try and lower the dam’s water level, after reports that it is on the brink of collapse.

On Friday, the department issued a warning to residents and businesses to immediately evacuate. Safety assessments have revealed that the dam has suffered irreversible deterioration due to recent heavy rains in the province.

Majodina elaborates, “All our dams in Mpumalanga are intact. The only dam that is failing is a privately owned dam called My Own Dam. We are attending to that. Already we have opened extra spillways for that dam. So, there’s no crisis. What we have done is to advise people to be relocated from the downstream. Otherwise, we are monitoring the dam 24 hours.”