Deneysville residents fear homes will flood as Vaal Dam levels remain high

Despite government’s assurances that the worst of the Vaal Dam flooding is over, residents of Deneysville in the Free State are battling rising levels.

A warning has also been issued to those downstream to evacuate. With weather services forecasting drier conditions ahead for Gauteng, there are no plans to add to the more than the five floodgates already open, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina said.

But, with the total discharge from the dam at about 800 000l per second – equivalent to filling an Olympic size swimming pool every three seconds – she warned people downstream to prepare to evacuate their properties.

The Vaal Dam was at 114% capacity yesterday morning. The floodgate discharge had already flooded properties downstream on the riverbank and those on the edge of the dam itself.

Caravans flooded

Isabelle van der Merwe from the Deneysville Water Sports Club, which is on the shores of the dam, said: “We are underwater. The first row of caravans are completely flooded, while the second row is next in line.

“The owners of the caravans on the left were told to come evacuate their belongings because it will be too late by tomorrow.”

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Van der Merwe said the water has risen to knee height in the first row of caravans.

Authorities monitoring dam discharge

Majodina said the department was not opening any more sluice gates for now.

“So far there is no need to open another sluice gate but if it rains during the evening and there’s more water coming in, we will need to assess the situation and release water quickly.

“We have engineers monitoring the dam 24/7 to ensure we release water based on facts and have time to warn communities downstream,” she said.

Majodina said while some communities feel the department should have opened the gates when the dam was at 90% full, the department’s responsibility was to store water.

“We release water when we are above the capacity that we can store. We do not want water to overflow and release itself. That’s dangerous. We are managing the water,” she said.

Communities warned to evacuate danger zones

Majodina said people should move from the flood line.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Residents urged to evacuate after fifth sluice gate opened at Vaal Dam

“We are still encouraging those upstream that have built their properties on flood lines and on dam banks to evacuate quickly because soon it will be flooded. We cannot be held responsible for their properties if they are damaged because they are not supposed to be there,” she said.

Department spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said the dam outflow remains at 800 cubic metres per second, with the current inflows between 1 000 and 1 100 cubic metres per second, or 1 million to 1.1 million litres per second.

Rainfall across provinces worsens inflow

Ongoing rain across the country was to blame for the increased inflow into the dam, with some places measuring up to 30mm of rain within an hour.

Vox Weather meteorologist Michelle du Plessis said the rain over the past few days was due to a cut-off layer.

“The system is moving away today, with most of the rain clearing. In the past week, Gauteng has had between 40-80mm of rain, North West has had between 60-100mm and northern KwaZulu-Natal [Ulundi] area] has received between 80 and 100mm.”

Du Plessis said rain in the Western Cape on Tuesday led to flooding in places. She said the week ahead was expected to be drier in Gauteng.

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