Limpopo floods demand a reckoning

AS LIMPOPO battles one of its most devastating flooding events in recent history, South Africa is being confronted again with an uncomfortable truth - floods are no longer a problem confined to coastal provinces or low-lying urban centres.

- HANGWELANI HOPE MAGIDIMISHA-CHIPUNGU

They are now a nationwide reality, reaching deep into rural interiors and reshaping the country’s risk landscape. The current flooding crisis in Limpopo, part of a declared national disaster, exposes not only the ferocity of climate-driven extreme weather but also the country’s persistent under-preparedness in the face of a known and growing threat.

As of January 21, this year, at least 19 lives have been lost, with several people still missing in areas such as Tshwinga in the Vhembe District and Ba-Phalaborwa in Mopani. Nearly 2 000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, key transport routes severed, and access to healthcare, water, and electricity disrupted.

The images of submerged villages, impassable bridges, and the heart-wrenching search for missing two boys taken by the Selati River among other missing people, paint a picture of a nation grappling with a new and terrifying normal. Even Kruger National Park, often seen as resilient to extreme weather, has been forced to close major gates and roads as rivers burst their banks. These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a systemic challenge.