Three Farm Dams Collapse in South Africa, Displacing Hundreds

(Bloomberg) -- Three farm dams collapsed in South Africa’s Western Cape province, displacing hundreds of people, and the authorities are monitoring a fourth facility for potential failure.

Retention walls on the reservoirs near the town of Malmesbury, which lies 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Cape Town, burst on Aug. 8 and the deluge of water destroyed properties, vehicles and infrastructure, the Department of Water and Sanitation said on its X account.

The department granted the City of Cape Town permission to build an emergency spillway on the fourth barrage to route overflowing water and lower the risk of its failure. It also sent engineers to the area to help with stabilization efforts.

The Department of Human Settlements has dispatched an emergency housing team to the Swartland municipality to assist families who were forced to abandon their homes, Nocks Seabi, chairman of parliament’s portfolio committee on human settlements, said in a statement.

Dams in the province are currently overflowing after heavy winter rains. Last month, Cape Town, South Africa’s tourism capital, was battered by storms that caused extensive damage to infrastructure and drove thousands of shantytown residents from their homes.

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