The towns flooded in the southern Cape and Eastern Cape this week are being assessed for aid, provincial officials said on Friday. All except one of the national roads in the Eastern Cape are now open. Meanwhile, a three-night ordeal for eight people trapped in their cars by snow in the mountains in Lesotho has finally come to an end.
Shado Twala, spokesperson for Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, said a decision on aid measures for flood-ravaged Western Cape areas, from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay, would be taken only after Rasool and his local government and transport ministers made a helicopter flight over the stricken areas on Friday afternoon.
Twala said Rasool and his ministers were at a Western Cape cabinet lekgotla (meeting) in Gordon’s Bay on Friday. On Thursday the lekgotla had heard a presentation from Lionel Dorfling, the executive mayor of the Eden district municipality, which covers Knysna and most of the Garden Route.
It was this presentation that prompted the decision to go on the trip to assess the situation ”and locate suggested relief mechanisms”, Twala said.
She said Rasool and the ministers would meet community members after the flight at a hall in George. After that meeting, they would, also at George, meet members of the joint operations centre that had been coordinating emergency work in the area.
In the Eastern Cape, Premier Nosimo Balindlela spent Friday morning visiting flooded areas around East London. The worst-hit areas of the province were in the Port Elizabeth area, where informal settlements were under water.
Balindlela’s spokesperson Masiza Mazizi said she was touring Duncan Village, Buffalo Flats and Mdantsane, handing out blankets and food parcels. ”The premier is busy in the areas … It has not been declared a disaster,” said Mazizi.
The Eastern Cape’s department of local government and housing was assessing damage with a view to aid, said spokesperson Mbulelo Linda. ”We have to get a detailed report on what has happened; we’re trying to consolidate that.”
Linda said the possibility of disaster relief was ”definitely” being considered, especially for people who had lost their shacks and homes. ”We need to have a complete joint intervention between our departments — social development, agriculture, transport, public works.”
Linda was speaking from Port Elizabeth, where many of the senior provincial government officials were meeting to discuss the 2010 World Cup.
Each municipality has funds and capacity to deal with disasters but is also able to approach the provincial government for help.
Linda said his department has a housing emergency fund and will consider urgent applications from municipalities for rehousing those flooded out, such as in informal settlements along the Chetty River in Port Elizabeth.
Lesotho rescue
Meanwhile, eight people have been rescued after being trapped for three nights in their cars by snow in the Thaba ‘Tseka mountains in Lesotho, the South African high commission in Lesotho said on Friday.
Spokesperson Jerome Barnes said rescuers had located the stranded travellers and taken them to safety. ”Some of them were taken to a village close by, while others have been taken to the Roma university.”
He said a medical team that had accompanied the South African National Defence Force and the Lesotho Air Force was attending to the people. ”No one has been taken to hospital yet, but I’m still waiting for a full report.”
Barnes said the news came as a huge relief as rescuers had earlier battled to get through to the mountains because of poor visibility. Earlier on Friday, he said he was worried as ”those people had to go through three chilly nights without food and water”.
The eight people — four South Africans and four Basotho — were trapped in the mountains following snowfalls on Wednesday and Thursday. Two of them, Shadrack Mosoeu and truck driver Moses Dlamini, kept in touch with the high commission by cellphone and this helped in locating them.
On Friday morning, however, their cellphones went dead. Barnes suspected the batteries must have run out.
Of the people stranded, only two South Africans were identified — Tony Ferreira and Gerald Conlon. They had been stuck at a lodge near Katse Dam.
Another car was reported to have been stuck about 2km from where Mosoeu’s car was.
An officer from the Lesotho correctional services was also believed to have been among the people. ”But until I get a full report, I cannot confirm which of those people have been rescued,” Barnes said.
Roads open
All except one of the national roads in the Eastern Cape are open, the South African National Roads Agency said on Friday.
The N10 from Nanaga near Port Elizabeth to Middelburg was still closed at Olifantskop Pass due to rock falls, but was expected to be reopened on Friday afternoon. The alternative route from Port Elizabeth to the north is the R75 via Uitenhage to Graaff-Reinet.
The N2, which runs from the Western Cape through the Eastern Cape along the coast, through Mthatha to KwaZulu-Natal, is open throughout but has damage, said Sanral.
On the N2 from Plettenberg Bay to Port Elizabeth, potholes are developing near Storms River and between Van Stadens River and Port Elizabeth. On the N2 between Port Elizabeth and East London, there are minor rock falls east of Grahamstown that are being cleared and potholes developing both sides of Peddie.
On the N2 from East London to Kokstad, there are minor rock falls in the Kei cuttings and potholes developing in the rain.
The N6 from East London to Aliwal North is open. The Penhoek pass is open but motorists are warned to beware of minor rock falls and potholes north of Jamestown.
The N9 from Willowmore to Middelburg has minor rock falls in the cuttings and there may be snow on the Loodsberg pass.
The R61 from Wapadsberg to Queenstown may have snow at Wapadsberg where conditions are slippery.
The R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns has minor rock falls. — Sapa