Cape Town - The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has confirmed that it would be taking action for non-compliance against the owner of dams that burst their walls, causing extensive flooding and severely damaging homes and infrastructure in Riverlands and Chatsworth, near Malmesbury.
The department said this action would include financial compensation for damage to infrastructure.
Criminal investigations are currently ongoing and focused on current and past owners that constructed and operated the dams without compliance with water use authorisation and dam safety requirements.
An investigative report commissioned by the DWS has placed the blame for the dams failure at the feet of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.
The report comes three weeks after the dams collapsed, which had caused extensive flooding leading to damages to homes, left hundreds displaced, and damaged key infrastructure, leaving the affected communities without water and electricity.
On Thursday, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, visited Riverlands where the findings of the preliminary investigative report were made public and shared with community members.
The investigation sought to find the causes of the failure of the three dams, determine the ownership of the dams, and to verify if the dams complied with dam safety regulatory requirements and whether there had been proper authorisation from the department.
Majodina was joined by Deputy Minister Sello Seitlholo, Local Government MEC Anton Bredell, Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers, West Coast District Municipality Mayor Roelof Strydom, and Swartland Local Municipality Mayor Harold Cleophas.
After the initial three dams had failed on August 12, the department’s dam safety team discovered that a fourth dam, the highest dam in the valley, was on the verge of failure.
A decision was then made to partially empty the dam and it was then when the team discovered another dam downstream to dam one, which the department referred to as dam zero.
The investigation determined that the oldest dam was constructed between 1960 and 1966. Dam one and two were constructed between 1966 and 1992. Dam four, which was the largest on the property, was built between 2000 and 2005, as well as dam zero.
“When dams three to one were constructed, the owner of the property was Dassenberg Plaas Pty Ltd,” Majodina said.
“The farm was then sold to Agrico Machinery Pty (Ltd), which proceeded to construct dams four and zero. The property was acquired by the National Government in 2019. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform Rural and Development became the custodian of the property on behalf of the government.
“With the reconfiguration of departments, the property currently belongs to the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development. The Dassenberg Farm is currently leased by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development to Mazibuyinkomo Primary Agricultural Co-Operative,” Majodina said.
Majodina said the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development failed to conduct due diligence to ascertain whether the five dams were compliant with the National Water Act and whether the dams were registered with the relevant authority.
She said the previous owners who constructed the dams were required to obtain a dam safety licence before commencing with construction and that there was no record of any permit or licence issued by the department.
“Our investigation shows that dam three failed as a result of piping failure (internal erosion) which compromised the stability of the dam wall significantly. The failure of dam three led to a cascading failure effect on dam two, dam one, and dam zero due to overtopping failures since dam three’s capacity was larger than the capacities of the dams downstream,” Majodina said.
The dams had no prominent spillway structures and therefore did not meet dam safety standards and standard engineering criteria.
Majodina said the failure of the dams could have been avoided had the dams been registered with the department so that they could have been properly regulated, and with mandatory dam safety evaluations conducted by a dam engineer.
“The owners of the Dassenberg Farm (ie, Dassenberg Plaas Pty Ltd) appear to have constructed these dams without first obtaining a licence/permit in terms of the then Water Act.
“When the farm was sold to the Agrico Machinery Pty (Ltd), the new owner proceeded to construct the fourth dam, also without a licence to construct as required by the National Water Act of 1998.
“Further, the investigation has established that the design or construction of the Dassenberg Farm dams are not in accordance with the latest and best practices in dam engineering. This could be because of the age of the dams and no inspections having been conducted to ascertain if the dams meet the relevant dam engineering standards.”
The dams were not equipped with sufficient spillways to accommodate foreseeable floods.
The DWS has ordered the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development to present a rehabilitation plan for the areas affected by the failure of the dams and to implement it in accordance with applicable legislation, ie, the National Water Act and National Environmental Management Act.
The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development is also required to conduct an audit of all the properties where dams have been constructed and apply for classification and registration of all dams that meet the definition in terms of the National Water Act.
The Swartland Local Municipality has also been told to conduct a stormwater management assessment to investigate the current and future impact that the Swart River will have on the residents of Riverlands, in the absence of any flood retention that was provided by the Farm Dassenberg dams.
The DWS said it would publish a notice in the Government Gazette calling on all owners of dams that meet the requirements to be classified as dams with a safety risk to register the dams and comply with any other requirements or directives.
The Department said the dam owner must inform the DWS whether they intend to repair the dams or to decommission the dams.
Simmers said the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure would be making land available for housing developments and providing temporary shelter to the affected residents.
The Swartland Municipality said potable water service delivery was specifically impacted, with a significant portion of the water network washed away in the flood.
“A contractor has been appointed by means of emergency procurement procedures and will be on site in the coming days. The contractor has the massive task to rebuild the section of the water network that provides water to the towns of Riverlands and Chatsworth. This means rebuilding the network and restoring connections to the affected households. This will still take several weeks,” the Swartland Municipality said.
Water trucks are currently providing water to the communities of Riverlands and Chatsworth in the interim.
Several roads were also severely damaged, making access to some parts of town challenging. Work is currently being done by the municipality and the Provincial Department of Infrastructure to clean and repair the affected roads. Transnet was also on site to repair a damaged railway line.
The municipality said humanitarian aid was still being distributed to those displaced, with 64 persons sheltering in two community centres.
“Many displaced residents have returned to their properties to begin rebuilding, although resettlement remains challenging due to altered river dynamics. Swartland Municipality is collaborating with the Provincial Department of Infrastructure and the National Department of Public Works to bring in land surveyors, civil engineers, and town planners to assess the safest options for resettlement.”
Department of Land Reform and Rural Development Chief Director: Communication Services Linda Page said the department noted Majodina’s comments. The department would study the report and conclude its own internal processes and make an announcement at the appropriate time.