Vaal flooding: 'worst not over'

DENEYSVILLE UNDERWATER: NO MORE SLUICE GATES TO OPEN

- Marizka Coetzer

Despite government's assurances that the worst of the Vaal Dam flooding is over, residents of Deneysville in the Free State are battling rising levels.

A warning has also been issued to those downstream to evacuate.

With weather services forecasting drier conditions ahead for Gauteng, there are no plans to add to the more than five floodgates already open, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina said.

But, with the total discharge from the dam at about 800 000 litres per second – equivalent to filling an Olympic-size swimming pool every three seconds – she warned people downstream to prepare to evacuate their properties.

The Vaal Dam was at 114% capacity yesterday morning.

The floodgate discharge had already flooded properties downstream on the riverbank and those on the edge of the dam itself.