Some Vaal residents say they haven’t received any flood warning alerts

JOHANNESBURG - While some residents in the Vaal are complaining about flood warnings that are not area-specific, others have said that they have not received any alerts.

Resident Ryno Moolman, whose home is in Rietspruit on the riverbank, said the community had requested a meeting with government officials to prevent delayed warnings.

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He said they had created a WhatsApp chat group with officials, however, it had not yielded the desired outcomes of first-hand information.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has opened a total of six sluice gates to manage the outflow of water.

Moolman said he wanted the residents and government to find ways to get ahead of the destructive weather.

"We, as residents along the Vaal River, are basically demanding that we get a proper meeting with the management from Vaal Dam and disaster management so that we can move together on a sustainable solution on how to prevent floods."