Authorities will assess the damage inflicted by freak weather that hit the Klerksdorp area at the weekend and provide water to affected residents.
At a press conference on Monday it was announced that water tankers would be made available to the residents of Jouberton and Alabama.
North West acting premier Reverend OJ Tselapi told media representatives after a tour of the area: ”The buzzword right now is assessment.”
About 1 900 people have registered damage to their homes due to Sunday’s storm, which killed one person and injured about 300 others. The injured, among them a three-year-old boy, were being treated in local hospitals.
The situation was compounded by a power failure, making it difficult for emergency services to carry out rescue missions in affected areas.
Matlosana municipality spokesperson Sandy Botha said on Monday that power lines were lying on the ground and water pipes had been damaged. Mayor China Dodovu appealed to residents not to tamper with electricity infrastructure during the prolonged power failure.
Community meetings were scheduled for Monday evening to discuss the way forward with Jouberton and Alabama residents.
The Stilfontein police dog unit had to use a winch to put a caravan back on its wheels after it was thrown about 20m during the storm. The caravan was on the property of the Winner Chapel, a division of the Full Gospel Church, in Jouberton township. It was one of at least three places of worship damaged by the storm on Sunday afternoon.
The township Presbyterian church was filled with rubble as a wall had collapsed and the roof had blown off. A 78-year-old woman was killed during a service in the church.
On Monday morning, residents were seen drying out their household possessions and repairing their roofs. Sheets of mangled corrugated iron lay strewn all over the township.
Steve Senyane, principal of Akofang Primary School, said much of the iron littered about the grounds, among uprooted trees, had blown in from outside the school property. The school itself suffered damaged classrooms, with one block having lost its roof.
”A few kids arrived for school this morning, but I sent them home,” said Senyane. — Sapa