Following dam walls bursting and causing devastating flash floods in Riverlands, Western Cape, parliament has heard the department of water sanitation (DWS) has a severe shortage of dam inspectors.
In Riverlands, near the town of Malmesbury, the collapse of a series of three dams owned by the department on 7 August left 107 people homeless and destroyed the livelihoods of small scale farmers in the rural settlement.
The settlement was again flooded on 17 August when a spillway created by engineers at the fourth and largest dam overflowed.
Earlier this month, DWS minister Penny Majodina and her deputy told the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that the department faces a severe shortage of approved professional people to inspect dams. It currently only employs four inspectors permanently, and there are only 101 on the register of approved professional inspectors countrywide, most of whom (60%) are over 60 years of age.
Dam owners must submit a safety report prepared by an approved inspector every five years. The law requires approved professionals to do the inspections, and only the minister may appoint them after consulting with the Engineering Council of South Africa.
