Residents in Kwaggafontein have raised concerns over recurring flooding in their yards whenever the Brandkop reservoir experiences infrastructural issues, claiming their complaints have gone unanswered for the past five years.
The most recent incident disrupted activities at Happy Valley for Kids, forcing a postponement as guests were unable to access the premises, while some residents were also unable to leave their homes for work.
Owner Lezanne Buitendach and her husband, Bertie Steyn, showed Bloemfontein Courant the remnants of the flooding a few days after the incident, describing it as a “snowballing effect” as it has now begun affecting their sewer system. “The roads are not levelled; the electrical fence gets damaged. The water eventually flows into our garages, which then goes into the flat we have at the back, which damages furniture and electronics.”
They say a resident known as Oom Bart often assists with his TLB after flooding incidents to help level the roads. “We cannot estimate how much we lost with the last incident, but we had to turn (away) a bus with learners who came to spend the day. We have to go out of our way to make it up to our clients,” Buitendach said. According to residents, the previous incident occurred exactly a year ago, with the most recent taking place on 16 April. The yards in Tiemie Street were severely affected, and residents say Vaal Central Water attributed the incident to a valve failure.
They have raised concern that the flooding appears to occur around the same time each year, and that intervention has been limited to what they describe as “a small truck with a little gravel”.
Bloemfontein Courant had provided Vaal Central Water with ample opportunity to respond, however, no comment had been received at the time of publication.
