Ahead of the start of school holidays in the province, residents have been urged to consider their travel plans carefully as several roads were still closed, have only limited lane access, or stop-go arrangements are in place following the severe storms.
There is a stop-go arrangement on the N1 in De Doorns, which will be in place for at least three months.
The N2 is closed outside Botriver, the R43 is closed in the direction towards Villiersdorp, the Hemel and Aarde road is closed towards Hermanus, and the R321 is closed from Molteno Road in the direction of Villiersdorp.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell said: “It is the start of the school holidays in the Western Cape, and we are asking people to consider their plans for travelling very carefully.
“Hermanus suffered extensive damages to water supply infrastructure during the floods, and emergency services are currently supplying water with trucks and tankers for the entire community.
“If you are planning to visit, please be considerate to the water trucks on the road.
Please bring water along for your own needs, and it would be appreciated if you could also bring a few litres extra for someone in the affected community,” Bredell said.
Relief efforts continued in reaching out to rural communities still cut off due to roads being washed away.
“We are concerned about farmworker families, especially in the Breede River Municipality, and are doing everything in our power to connect and support everybody in need.”
In the city, a total of 21 011 people and 6 906 structures were confirmed as impacted.
Assessments are still outstanding for Covid Settlement, LA Burundi, and Strongyard in Mfuleni.
City Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said they hoped to provide a full assessment in the week.
“Our humanitarian agency partners, like Sassa, the Department of Social Development, NGOs and various community-based organisations have been assisting with humanitarian relief (hot meals, food parcels, blankets and mattresses) to more than 10 000 affected people.
“Our roads and infrastructure management department is providing milling and sand in many of the affected settlements,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said there had been a significant improvement across the Western Cape dam system, with the Cape Town System dams increasing by more than 7% compared to the previous week.
The Western Cape Water Supply System, comprising six of the largest dams supplying water to the city and its surroundings, is sitting at 109.38%.
Theewaterskloof, the biggest dam in the province, which accounts for 54% of the province's water supply, is at 100% and spilling, while Misverstand Dam is at 152.67%, Brandvlei Dam at 80.91%, Ceres Dam at 101.16%, Gamka Dam at 102.49%, Clanwilliam Dam at 101.38% and Miertjieskraal at 111.71%.
“While DWS is pleased with the significant rainfall, it sadly acknowledges that the heavy rains and adverse weather conditions led to significant damage of infrastructure and detrimentally affected lives and livelihoods, especially those in river banks and low-lying areas,” read the statement.
Cape Times