Pretoria - North West Premier Thandi Modise will this morning visit flood stricken areas in the province which have seen two children go missing.
The provincial government on Thursday reported that two children had gone missing in the Mogwase township after the recent floods.
The two were swept away by floods in the township near Sun City outside Rustenburg on Thursday afternoon.
The Bojanala Platinum Disaster Management, Moses Kotane Fire & Emergency and a search and rescue team and police had been deployed to the scene on Thursday.
Additionally, relief efforts have also been mobilised to help 500 learners who reside at boarding facilities at Orbit College and Holy Family School in Mabele-a –Podi village who were also affected by flooding.
“Premier Thandi Modise who has expressed concern about the missing children is scheduled to visit the scenes tomorrow (Friday) morning,” said the premier’s spokesperson Lesiba Kgwele on Thursday.
More flooding incidents were reported in the Madibeng Local Municipality.
Kgwele said six bridges were also washed away in Klipgat and one in Maboloka and Jericho respectively.
Flooding was also experienced in Letlhabile Block I and G due to lack of storm water drainage.
Roads in Segwaelane village, which was also flooded, were muddy and slippery. Last week, 150 households in Segwaelane, Majakaneng, Mothotlung,Oukasie, Maboloka, Bapong, Letlhabile, Mmakau and Primendia in the municipality were affected by the floods.
Relief efforts that included counselling, tents, blankets, food parcels and Social Relief of Distress grants were rolled out to the said communities.
The Provincial Disaster Management Centre, which has earlier in the week issued an early flood warning to all municipalities, reported that the Department of Water Affairs is regulating the outflow of water from Hartbeespoort Dam which is full.
The province reiterated its appeal to motorists and pedestrians crossing flooding rivers to exercise extreme caution and not to underestimate flood currents.
Meanwhile, a motorist died on Thursday afternoon following a collision that occurred on the Mogwase-Sun City road.
Poor visibility as a result of the heavy rains is suspected to have caused the crash.
Another two motorists, whose vehicles were swept away by floods on the Mogwase-Northam road on Thursday evening, were rescued at around 5:45am on Friday by divers and the Search and Rescue team from the South African Police Service.
The pair, one of whom is a local doctor was allegedly found hanging on trees.
Many trucks are reported to be stuck between Rustenburg and Northam as a result of the flooding Kgetleng Rivier.
“An impact assessment will be carried out later this morning to assess the extent of the damage caused by the floods,” said the provincial government. – SAnews.gov.za
