Flash floods: City’s drainage systems not up to task

POLOKWANE – Last week’s flash floods in some parts of the city have highlighted the state of the city’s stormwater drainage systems, especially in the inner city and Ladanna.

Read more: WATCH: Polokwane floods after heavy thunderstorm

With some estimating that 75mm of heavy rains came down in less than an hour at around 17:00 last Wednesday, the system meant to control flooding by moving storm water out of urban areas, simply were not up to the task.

In areas where extensive flooding occurred, especially in the central business district, it was evident the next morning that most of the drainage systems in the area were either been blocked by rubble, weeds or simply have limited capability to relay water given the number of times the road surfaces have been upgraded, leaving little space for water to sypher through.

Municipal communications manager, Matshidiso Mothapo, says much of the state is the result of waste that is simply dumped by residents.

“Our teams regularly find nappies, dead animals, rocks and spoilt food in the drainage systems, and this would obviously impact the system’s ability to relay water, especially in the volumes that we saw last week,” he said.

Mothapo mentioned that the municipality maintains the stormwater system in the city on a quarterly basis.

Business owners at the Indian Shopping Centre in the inner city, however, say they have been reporting problematic drainage for three years and no permanent solution has been suggested.

Following last week’s rain, Polokwane Mayor John Mpe announced that R6m will additionally be allocated to maintain the storm water system, some of which is a portion of the roads maintenance funds.

Within the effort to upgrade the system, Mpe highlighted that street dwellers in the city, using the stormwater drains “as part of their habitat”, contribute to the system not working as effectively as it should.

A permanent solution, however, is not on the cards in the foreseeable future.