Mayors evaluate flood damages in Tekwane South
The City of Mbombela’s executive mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, said residents caught in the overflooded areas in Tekwane South had moved there without the municipality's approval.
City of Mbombela’s executive mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, and Ehlanzeni District’s executive mayor, Cllr Jesta Sidell, visited Tekwane South on Tuesday February 14 to assess the damage caused by the ongoing floods to residential properties and municipal infrastructure.
After their visit, Makushe-Mazibuko indicated that community members who had built housing structures near rivers that ended up being flooded, did so against the municipality’s admonishments, and its city planning department’s.
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“Efforts to position citizens in properly assessed areas are often defeated by this cancerous urge to occupy land illegally. Therefore, illegal occupation of land is condemned and discouraged vehemently by the City. Although this is the case, emergency disaster management plans are being done and joint operation committees have been established to assist the municipality in these trying times of disaster.”
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The operational committees assembled will be advising both executive mayors on the state of disaster and the mitigating progress made on a daily basis.
