Flood-stricken Bloemhof, Christiana communities plead for assistance

Communities and families in the flood-stricken areas of Bloemhof and Christiana in the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality in the North West are pleading with both government and the private sector to come to their rescue.

This after over 100 households were severely affected by the flooding of the Vaal River which has left many displaced and properties damaged. The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will gradually close more sluice gates at the Vaal Dam by the end of the day.

Now that the water is subsiding, those affected by the overflow say they need assistance to move on with their lives.

“People who have properties downstream also they had a lot of damage because the first floods went down and some of the walls fell down. So I think it will be nice to them if they help the people to build the property down here.”

“The only stuff I could retrieve was three sets of clothes. I had nothing, three sets of clothes, toiletries, and that was all. So, I don’t know what is happening with the double store is also full of water, but I lost everything.”

Meanwhile, the local authorities are equally concerned about the well-being of the affected families.

“We are always proactive as a municipality. But we continue to plead with private sector, we continue to plead with business people, business fraternity, and whoever who is a good samaritan to assist in terms of the donation that we may need because we are not sure as to when will the level decrease or at what time will the level go down. So, we continue just to monitor the situation very closely so that as the level rises at least we are able to put systems in place to ensure that those that those that would have been affected at that particular time are then evacuated with immediate effect,” explains Mpho Pilane, the speaker of the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality.