Several homes and roads in some parts of Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa have been flooded by overnight rains measuring up to 37mm.
Following a warning by the South African weather service (SAWS) of extreme storms and heavy rains across the Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Bay residents woke up to flooded homes and roads on Saturday.
The worst hit are the residents in Townships, they accuse the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) of neglect and mismanagement of stormwater for years.
Kwazakhele Township resident, Chwayita Ngqawana says they’ve reported the issue to the municipality for years, but nothing has been done about it.
“This is not the first time our homes have been flooded, over the years we’ve reported the issue of blocked storm drains to the previous councillor and even the new one, but nothing has been done about it,” Ngqawana said.
The executive mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, Retief Odendaal admitted that the municipality has indeed neglected the maintenance of storm water drainage systems.
“We’re aware that the drainage system of storm water drains has been neglected for years and has caused many problems for residents. We urge residents to come forward and help in ascertaining where the weak points are in our storm water drainage systems, and where work is needed.” He said.
In June, Nelson Mandela Bay was three days away from Day Zero of no water. No significant dam-filling rain had fallen in the metro in six years, resulting in prolonged drought.
Although these rains may have seemed significant, SAWS’ weather guru Garth Sampson says to alleviate the current water crisis, a lot more rain is required.
“Unfortunately, only 0.2 to 4.6 millimeters of rain had been recorded in the catchment areas, and runoff from the rains would not be apparent for several days.” Said Sampson.
In the upcoming days, Sampson said the Bay area should expect some light rain.