Heavy rains flood Mitchell’s Plain streets

It has been almost a week since Mauricia Manuel’s home in Blaauberg Street, Tafelsig, flooded during the heavy rains of Thursday, July 11. The single mother who lives with her 23 and 11-year-old sons and her 52-year-old brother, is still devastated by the impact of the flooding.

The stench of damp, watermarks against the walls and damaged appliances in her home are reminders of the chaos that erupted during the level 8 storm of last week.

“Some neighbours who live further down in Banhoek and Biedouberg streets were up to their necks in the dirty water. My sister, who lives in Banhoek Street, with her sons had no beds to sleep in and their electricity was off for several days,” Mauricia recalled.

Subcouncil 12 Chairperson Solomon Philander said several families were affected by the inclement weather in similar cases of flooding in Eastridge and elsewhere in Tafelsig.

“Four homes in Fidelio Street, a property in Boekenhout and over 50 homes in Bakenskop, Banhoek and Biedouberg streets, were affected by the weather. Many homes in Banhoek and surrounding streets are without electricity due to water damage,” he said on Monday.

Mr Philander said the power outage was caused by damages to electrical infrastructure due to the bad weather and flooding. He said city officials were attending to the outage.

Several roads were also flooded elsewhere in Mitchell’s Plain. In Portlands Close, residents opened several stormwater drains to try and reduce the flooding.

Mr Philander urged Mitchell’s Plain residents to help the City reduce the risk of future flooding.

“We call on every resident to work with the City to keep stormwater infrastructure clear from litter and foreign objects. We are thankful that no lives were lost,” he said.

It wasn’t only homes that were affected by last week’s bad weather.

In Sabre Close, Rocklands, a street lamp pole lay on its side. Strong winds also damaged the fence of Strandfontein Primary and Strandfontein Sportsfield, according to Councillor Elton Jantjies, chairperson of Subcouncil 17. He said the primary school fencing collapse would be escalated to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

When the Plainsman visited Westgate Mall last Thursday, cardboard could be seen in several places in the mall, as a result of water leaking from the roof. Puddles of water were also observed between OK Furniture and Checkers. The mall’s Adriana Wessels said on Thursday that everything was under control, and referred the matter to its marketing department. The Plainsman made several attempts for comments but calls and messages were unanswered.

Meanwhile, Liberty Promenade mall disputed a video circulating on social media, reporting that the mall was closed for trade on Thursday July 11. They stated on their Facebook post that the shopping centre was fully operational and trading as usual.

"Entrance 1 is open to the public," read the post. They thanked customers for their patience and understanding.

"We would like to extend a big thank you to the cleaning and security teams for their hard work in resolving the situation," read the post.