Prov Govt undecided on Vhembe disaster

The Provincial Government has yet to declare Vhembe district as a disaster area despite calls by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo.
The party made the call after the heavy downpours destroyed several houses, roads and bridges and also caused flooding in Thavhani Mall in Thohoyandou last week. The storm damage hindered the residents from getting to work and to school.
The affected areas include Masisi, Madimbo, Tshilamba, Folovhodwe and surrounding villages.
The DA urged Premier Stan Mathabatha and his administration to engage all relevant stakeholders to craft an impact strategy to bring relief to the residents of Vhembe and further dispatch a team to assess the damage.
DA Provincial Leader Jacques Smalle was quoted to have said: “The DA believes that this calamity could have been avoided had Premier Mathabatha prioritised service delivery and the maintenance of infrastructure like storm water drains instead of focusing on the ANC’s internal squabbles and self-enriching exercises. Once declared a disaster, additional finances may be allocated to this area to provide emergency relief to the affected villages by upgrading some of the damaged infrastructure so that life can go back to normal.”
Premier’s spokesperson Kenny Mathivha said the Disaster Management team from the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) and the Vhembe District Municipality were at work to assist the displaced and destitute. Rehabilitation programmes were being developed according to the nature of the disaster. The decision whether to declare Vhembe as a disaster area will be taken after receiving all reports from the District Municipality, he said.
Chief Executive Officer of Thavhani Mall in Thohoyandou, Brandon Nesengani thanked everyone who flew into action to swiftly salvage the cars, drain the parking area and clean up the water, when their mall was partially flooded last Wednesday.
The mall opened for customers the next morning as normal except for one shop, House & Home that was only open for business again on Friday.
Nesengani said that heavy rain overwhelmed the municipal infrastructure in Thohoyandou and burst a major municipal drain alongside the R524 (Punda Maria Road), which funnelled a flood of the town’s stormwater into the mall’s parking area.
According to Nesengani, there were only a few vehicles in the parking area when the drain burst at about 20:20 and most were not affected, although several cars were partially immersed in the floodwater and mall personnel assisted to tow them out. Water also entered several shops on the mall’s lower level and a goods lift. Fortunately, no one was injured and the mall and its parking area didn’t suffer any major damage,” Nesengani stated.

Story: BARRY VILJOEN
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ENDY SENYATSI
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Herbert Rachuene
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