13 Dec 2020

Mogoditshane/Thamaga district commissioner’s office, together with the roads department, has made efforts to unclog the drainage system to ensure proper flow of run-off water after most homes in Mogoditshane were left submerged in water following torrential rains recently.

The deputy district commissioner, Mr Gobe Macha said in an interview that the clogged drainage system around the village and lack of spill-away pipes in walled up homes were responsible for the flooding, .

In some cases, Mr Macha said water had found its way into some houses, together with trees that had been brought down by heavy rains.

He noted that some areas within the village were run off land, which created challenges for much of the drainage system around the Mogoditshane area.

He said to address the problem, there was a need to build stronger drainage systems that could not be built in the near future as the Mogoditshane/Thamaga Sub-district was a large administrative area.

He said the disaster management team was still assessing to determine the extent of the damage to the homes, noting that currently about 20 individuals had been reported to be affected by the rains.

Mr Macha explained that they were working round the clock to bring back life to normalcy and ensure that no significant risk was posed by the flooding water, should it rain again.

He also said social workers were currently assessing victims to ensure that they got the necessary amenities such as food hampers and shelter.

He said by Friday morning, they had managed to secure tents for those whose houses were heavily affected by the rains, but could not determine the amount needed to assist the residents as the assessment was still ongoing.

Moreover, he clarified that the sub-district council could only provide shelter and food hampers to victims for a short period when they attend to the damages, adding that government would not assist to fix the damages done as per the guidelines.  ends