Parts of Soweto have been declared disaster areas after flash floods hit the township overnight, the Gauteng provincial government said on Friday.
Spokesperson Simon Zwane said Premier Paul Mashatile visited the area on Friday, speaking to affected families.
The declaration of disaster opens up an opportunity for humanitarian aid to start flowing to families left destitute by the floods, he said.
Heavy rain storms swept through the province on Thursday night, leaving parts of Johannesburg flooded.
Jabulani, Dube South, Mofolo North and Meadowlands, in Soweto, were worst affected by the floods.
Residents have been left destitute while two children were killed and three others, including a 20-day-old infant, were missing after the flash flood.
”The Gauteng provincial government supports the declaration of the areas as disaster areas and is committed to supporting the affected families through this trying time,” said Zwane.
He said a task team had been formed and would determine the kind of support to be provided to these families.
”The relief measures will be announced once the task team completes its assessment.” — Sapa
Zuma visits
African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma on Friday visited the site of a collapsed bridge where a taxi driver went missing after his vehicle was swept away.
A slab of broken tar lay on the road, just before it dipped into a gaping hole, where the bridge in Dube had washed away.
Zuma said he sympathised with the family, and said construction had already begun to restore the bridge.
Police divers were on the site, while a tractor moved rubble from the collapsed bridge.
Olando Chauke, 29, was driving over the bridge when he got washed away by the raging flood waters on Thursday.
His brother, Penana, told the South African Press Association: ”This is a horrible feeling. If he is gone, then I want to know, it is better to know what has happened to him than to wait like this.”
Penana said he had last seen his brother on Thursday, just before the floods began.
”He was probably ending his shift when it happened. We have been checking the hospitals and mortuaries, but he is nowhere to be found. I just don’t know, I can’t think, I have to go, I can’t speak about this anymore because my heart is breaking,” he said before hanging up the phone.
Zuma visited a flood-hit site in Soweto at around 1pm, where broken walls and flowing water bore testament to Thursday’s flash flood.
Followed by a host of vehicles, he wound his way through the streets of Soweto bringing traffic to a halt and causing spectators to line the streets.
Another taxi was washed off a bridge near Dobsonville. Vincent Zulu and Thabang Mathunyane were passengers in the vehicle. Zulu said the taxi had stopped as it approached the bridge when the driver noticed the water approaching the vehicle.
”The taxi stopped but the water came from the side and pushed the taxi,” he said.
Mathunyane said no one was injured in the incident but people were very scared. ”People were screaming, I lost my phone, no one knew what to do,” he said. He described how occupants of the taxi were forced to exit the vehicle from the windows as the door was jammed.
”The door couldn’t open so we climbed out the window,” he said.
By Friday afternoon, emergency services were still searching for the missing people.
”Reports that we have been receiving from the rescue teams indicate that they have not been successful so far,” said Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Percy Morokane.
He said the missing baby was aboard a bus trapped on Ncube Drive and a missing cyclist was from Mfulo South.
Morokane added that 200 families left homeless after the floods were being sheltered at the Grace Bible Church, opposite Maponya Mall, and the Dorcas Aid Shelter on Old Potch Road.
Food and blankets were being handed out to the destitute.
”We are giving them parcels containing oil, rice and canned food.
This would last them a long time,” said Morokane.
Two girls, aged six and 15, died during the floods on Thursday. The six-year-old was a passenger in one of three vehicles, including the bus, which were trapped by flood waters on Ncube Drive.
The South African Weather Service said more thunderstorms were expected by Friday afternoon.
”Gauteng can expect slow-moving thunderstorms in various areas, slow moving thunderstorms are the reason for flooding,” said forecaster Lulama Menze. — Sapa