Read more
The latest information reveals the severity of the situation, with the Vaal Dam reaching 120.69% capacity as of Monday.
Water management authorities have implemented a structured release schedule to manage the rising water levels. Picture; Nigel Sibanda
Residents in areas along the Vaal River are refusing evacuation orders despite dangerous flooding conditions, according to reports from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
This resistance comes as authorities have opened ten sluice gates at the Vaal Dam on Friday.
Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo expressed frustration at this situation, noting: “We’ve been working so hard with many communities, and there’s been a lot of positive response working with the NSRI, the police, the disaster management centers in the municipalities.
“But there are those communities that have been ignoring our request,” Mahlobo told eNCA.
The latest Vaal Dam and Vaal Barrage Hydrological Information reveals the severity of the situation, with the dam reaching 120.69% capacity by Monday.
The dam is currently experiencing an inflow of 1587.3m³/s and an outflow of 1881.0m³/s.
This represents a slight decrease from Sunday’s 121.53% increase of 2.21% since Friday, when the Department of Water and Sanitation opened the tenth sluice gate as the dam’s water levels reached 118.48%.
Prior to this action, the water levels had increased by approximately 6.36 percentage points in a single 24-hour period, driven by heavy rainfall throughout the region.
ALSO READ: WATCH: 10th sluice gate opened at the Vaal Dam
Communities along the Vaal River have expressed anger toward authorities, claiming that water levels could have been better managed to avoid the current flooding situation.
Some residents have gone so far as to describe the decision to open additional sluice gates as “disastrous.”
ALSO READ: ‘It’s a disaster’: Residents concerned as Vaal Dam opens 10th sluice gate [VIDEO]
Despite these criticisms, officials defended their approach to the crisis.
Mahlobo detailed the government’s escalating response, saying, “Minister and myself, we visited on 9 April. We went to the Vaal’s system. As we are correctly saying today, we have opened 10.”
ALSO READ: Vaal Dam flooding: Why residents are shrugging off evacuation warnings
According to the latest Vaal Dam and Vaal Barrage Hydrological Information, Bloemhof Dam started releasing 3,600 m3/s at 9am on Monday.
The scale of the water management challenge is significant, as Mahlobo explained.
“We are actually even releasing more than 1.8 billion liters per second. And because there are many other rivers in Uveka just in between the valley dam system and the Vaal barrage and the Bloemhof Dam,” the deputy minster said.
“And the Bloemhof, the water is at the highest level, more than 3,600 billion liters that are coming in per second and who are also releasing and serving sluice gates,” he added.
At the Vaal Barrage, water levels have reached 5.8m with an outflow of 1881.0m³/s and a water temperature of 17.8°C, according to Sunday’s hydrological information.
ALSO READ: Vaal Dam exceeds 120% capacity after opening of 10th sluice gate
Despite resistance from some residents, Mahlobo emphasised the positive coordination between various agencies.
“We have to convey our sincere gratitude to all those communities from here in Houghton, the Northwest, the Free State, and the Northern Cape that have responded to the call by Minister Pemmy Majodina in early April.”
As water levels continue to rise, authorities remain focused on convincing reluctant residents to evacuate while managing the unprecedented water volumes flowing through the Vaal Dam system.
NOW READ: Flood warnings as 10th Vaal Dam sluice gate to be opened [VIDEO]
Download our app