A total of 26 schools are currently closed in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District of the Northern Cape due to the incessant rainfall. More than 13 000 learners are affected.

The Northern Cape Department of Education said in a statement on Thursday 7 May that flooding is not only making roads inaccessible, but also causing damage to school infrastructure.

“Many of these affected learners are dependent on school transport, which is currently unable to function due to flooded routes,” said Geoffrey van der Merwe, media spokesperson.

The department has instructed the district office to develop a curriculum recovery plan for the affected schools. At this stage, it remains unclear when schools will reopen and when learning and teaching can resume as normal.

“The ongoing adverse weather conditions have led to disruptions in education since last Thursday. We would like to assure the public that the safety of learners, teachers and support staff remains our top priority. Schools will only resume once it is safe for everyone to travel to and from school,” said Van der Merwe.

Water storage levels surpassing province’s capacity

Following severe flooding caused by persistent rainfall in the province, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in the Northern Cape urges all residents of the province to exercise extreme caution.

The persistent rainfall resulted in above full water supply capacity of water storage in the provincial reservoirs, stated DWS on Wednesday 6 May.

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DWS encourages residents staying in high risk and low-lying areas, and those residing close to the river flood line to be extra cautious during this time.

The farming communities in those areas and the water users are advised to remove water equipment from the river to avoid damage to property, and animals should also be removed as water is expected to rise due to water releases from upstream of the river.

The Weekly State of the Reservoirs Report released by DWS this week indicates that water storage reservoirs in the province have increased from last week’s 104.8% to 124.2%, with a full supply capacity of 185.48 million cubic metres – surpassing the province’s capacity of 149.29 million cubic metres.

• Spitskop Dam located in Harts River at Jan Kempdorp has experienced a drastic upsurge from last week’s 109.9% to 164.4% this week.
• Vanderkloof Dam, situated approximately 130 km downstream from Gariep Dam at the border of the Free State and Northern Cape and fed by the Orange River, has remained unchanged at 102.8% full this week.
• Boegoeberg Dam, also in the same river, has remained unchanged this week at 117.9%.
• Vaalharts Weir in the Warrenton area has declined from last week’s 85.5% to 82.3% this week.
• Douglas Weir is still hovering above full supply capacity this week, increasing from last week’s 131.6% to 133.8% this week.
• Karee Dam that feeds Calvinia and the surrounding areas continues to struggle with low water levels and has slightly dropped from 35.8% to 34.7% this week.
• The two main river water supply systems in the province, Vaal and Orange, are respectively sitting comfortably above full supply capacity at 102.2% and 102.6%.

Amogelang Moholoeng, spokesperson of DWS, emphasised that the dams and weirs reflected above are not for long term water storage, but they serve as balancing dams designed to act as a multi-purpose facility. They also serve as distribution points from where water is diverted into pipelines, canals or power generating turbines.

The gauging stations measuring the readings of the Orange River System indicate that the water level at Katlani, downstream of the Vaal-Orange confluence, is 4,126 metres, at Prieska is 3,895 metres, at Upington is 4,126 metres, at Onseepkans is 2,902 metres, at Vioolsdrift Bridge is 3,566 metres, and at Sendelingsdrift is 2,499 metres.

Rainfall for April exceeded

According to the South African Weather Service’s preliminary rainfall data for April this year, above average rainfall was recorded over a big part of the Northern Cape.

The rainfall recorded in Upington exceeded the norm for April with 1 564%.

Rainfall measured (in mm) in the following towns in the Northern Cape, with the percentage of norm exceeded, is as follows: