Severe flooding in Mpumalanga has caused damage to roads and infrastructure.
Promise Marupeng/City Press
- Residents downstream of the Senteeko Dam have been ordered to evacuate immediately due to the risk of imminent structural failure.
- Some residents are reluctant to leave their homes, fearing zama zamas and the safety of their properties.
- Flood damage in Mpumalanga has exceeded R3.5 billion, resulting in at least 20 fatalities.
Residents living downstream of the Senteeko Dam in Mpumalanga have been ordered to evacuate amid warnings that the dam could fail, but some are reluctant to leave due to their fear of zama zamas and a lack of alternative accommodation.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) issued the evacuation order after an emergency safety assessment by its Dam Safety Office, which found that it was structurally unstable and at high risk of imminent failure.
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The dam, owned by the Shamile Communal Property Association (CPA) and used primarily for irrigation, has suffered severe and irreversible damage to its spillway structure.
DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said the spillway had experienced advanced erosion and undercutting, resulting in serious structural instability.
“Failure of the dam is imminent and may occur without further warning,” Mavasa said. “An uncontrolled release of water is likely and poses an immediate and serious threat to downstream communities, infrastructure and the environment.”
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She said all people living or operating downstream of the dam must evacuate flood-prone areas immediately and comply with instructions from disaster management and emergency services authorities.
Public access to the dam site has also been strictly prohibited.
“Emergency interventions currently in place are temporary risk-reduction measures only and do not prevent full or partial failure of the dam structure,” Mavasa said. “The department is coordinating response actions with relevant authorities and will issue further updates as required. Protection of life remains our highest priority.”
Barberton community leader Ayanda Magagula said the evacuation order had caused panic and confusion among residents.
“This situation is very concerning because we have never experienced something like this before,” Magagula said, adding that many residents relied on the dam for their survival and to irrigate crops.
He said some residents were reluctant to evacuate because they feared criminal activity.
Magagula said:
Under the current situation, people don’t have alternative accommodation. The instruction is coming through the media. We haven’t been formally informed, and we don’t know which areas will be severely affected.
He also said many residents in the area were poor and unemployed, and that others were still waiting for RDP houses.
“It’s an instruction that is not backed up with resources such as mobile houses. It is just a media statement. People must see what they can do to save themselves, yet this instruction also compromises the safety of people and their properties,” he said.
“They will be exposed to crime, especially since the entire Barberton area is infested with zama zamas. Once the dam bursts, the government will blame us for not moving, yet they know how much we fear zama zamas.”
Magagula said the warning had resulted in chaos within the community.
“They must bring alternatives and put measures in place to direct the water away from residential areas. Even government infrastructure, according to their own statement, is not safe,” he said.
READ | Limpopo, Mpumalanga floods: Teens reported missing, man’s body found
Meanwhile, the impact of recent floods and heavy rains in parts of Mpumalanga continues to mount, with the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure now exceeding R3.5 billion.
The floods have claimed at least 20 lives and left more than 1 800 houses damaged, along with 81 schools, public facilities, and several roads and bridges in Nkomazi and Bushbuckridge.
The Mpumalanga government said efforts were under way to restore essential services and repair damaged roads, schools, and residential homes.
Ntwaagae Seleka
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