Water department reveals four dams that collapsed in Riverlands were not approved

CAPE TOWN - The Department of Water and Sanitation has revealed that the four retention dams that collapsed earlier in August on a Dassenberg Farm in Riverlands were not authorised.

The department released a report on Thursday into the failure of the four dams, which led to the destruction of over 50 households, leaving hundreds of people displaced.

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The Department of Water and Sanitation has laid the blame squarely on the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development and has called for it to take responsibility for the damage.

The Department of Water and Sanitation said none of the dams that collapsed in Riverlands were registered as dams with a safety risk.

According to the department, no licences were issued to the previous owners who constructed the dams.

The department's head of dam safety, Wally Ramokopa, said Water and Sanitation was not even notified about the change of ownership of the dams.

"Government inherited property or bought property with dams already constructed. So, there's also an allegation on the previous owner or the first owner to actually build these dams because they were actually supposed to apply for a licence to construct a dam on the property."

However, Ramokopa added that government also failed when it took over the ownership of the dams in 2019 to ensure that they were legally registered to exist.