The City of Mbombela has evacuated residents living downstream of Senteeko Dam, situated between Kaapsehoop and Barberton, as the dam wall is at risk of collapse due to heavy rainfall.
The Department of Water and Sanitation said teams were dispatched to tend to the situation. The municipality stated that the dam wall is approaching failure following days of relentless rainfall across Mpumalanga province.
After evaluation, a new engineering assessment suggests the worst-case scenario may not be as severe as initially feared. The worst-case dam failure would not result in catastrophic flooding downstream.
The department of water and sanitation confirmed it had been notified about the private dam’s precarious condition and had mobilised response teams to assess the structure.
According to the engineering report, the De Kaap River was flowing at around 70 cubic metres per second overnight on 19 January, and had dropped to about 40 cubic metres per second by Tuesday. The Crocodile River, including inflows from the De Kaap River, was flowing past Kaapmuiden at roughly 300 cubic metres per second.
The assessment also indicated that if the Senteeko Dam were to fail, it would add no more than 50 cubic metres per second to the Crocodile River near Matsulu, and only for a period of approximately eight hours.
Mayor Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko said the Senteeko dam wall is failing due to the rain. She warned that a collapse would send a devastating wall of water through multiple river systems.
“If the dam wall does fail, there will be a 1.82 million m³ rush of water into the Suidkaap,” Makushe-Mazibuko said.
She said the situation was unpredictable.
“Please be on alert and don’t wait for the dam to break. If you are in the pathway, evacuate [immediately] and get to a safer place,” she said.
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