Procedure was followed in opening of Vaal Dam sluice gates, says minister
The Minister’s visit to the Vaal Dam was followed by an inspection at the Vaal Barrage and later visited a nearby community that was adversely affected by the floods, where he received feedback from Rand Water and various affected stakeholders, including community members.
Minister of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Senzo Mchunu, has emphasised that the department and Rand Water followed all the due processes prior to opening the 12 sluice gates at the Vaal Dam following heavy rains. Addressing the media outside the Vaal Barrage, Mchunu said the first part of communication took place between the department and Rand Water, noting that the department’s officials manage the Vaal Dam, while Rand Water operates the Barrage.
“All the rules and regulations and operational rules were followed, firstly internally. Beyond that, we had the chairperson of the community who said that all lines of communication were open and he took responsibility and flooded everybody with communication as they were receiving it from Rand Water and DWS,” Mchunu explained.
He added that everyone should be held accountable and emphasised that what happened was a “natural disaster that cannot be attributed to any form of negligence on anyone.”
“At all times we want to do better and improve in our response to natural disasters and we cannot do this alone, we need to work together,” the Minister said.The Minister expressed his sympathy to the residents, whose homes and businesses are located in the flood line, and have lost or left with damaged property.Accompanied by his deputies, Dikeledi Magadzi and David Mahlobo, Mchunu visited the Vaal last week , to assess water infrastructure and the aftermaths of the recent floods in the area. Mchunu first visited the Vaal Dam to check the level of the dam and subsequently closed one sluice gate.
To date, ten sluice gates have been closed; leaving two open as part of dam safety standards and procedures to manage water inflows upstream the Vaal River.
