A local clinic, schools and shops in the village of Kromkuil in North West’s Moretele Local Municipality have been affected by flooding following the recent heavy rains in many parts of the country. 

Kromkuil clinic has been closed for three days now. Koketso Chabalala (31) had an appointment to collect her antiretroviral medication (ARVs) at the clinic on Monday. She braved the heavy rains, but found the clinic empty. 

“I started to panic because I was left with only one pill. I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “I went back the next day to check and it was worse than before. The clinic was filled with water.” 

By Wednesday Chabala had gone two days without medication. Missing ARV doses for extended periods of time could make the medication less effective. She went to Ga Motla clinic in the NW, which is about 20km from home. Chablala has been given 10 tablets and told the Kromkuil clinic will be opened soon. 

Emergency measures in place 

North West Department of Health acting spokesperson, Keletso Ratlhagane, says the road leading to the Kromkuil clinic has been damaged by flooding.  

“The Kromkruil clinic which has had its access road being gravely affected by the recent rains. As a department we had to activate a contingency plan of migrating health services to Ga Mmotla clinic to ensure the residents are not left without access to health services,” he says. 

The damage to the roads is too extensive for the department to deploy any or the three Mobile clinic units it has in the Moretele Local Municipality. 

“These mobile clinics cannot be used as a contingency measure in case of recent heavy rains which have hit the Moretele area as the roads are flooded and are not conducive for even these mobiles to travel on.”

Wider damage 

Moretele Local Municipality is a low lying area and the flooding has caused the bridge that connects Kromkuil and Mmakaunyana, a neighbouring village, to collapse. 

Mothusi Segona (41) has lived in Kromkuil all his life and says these are the worst floods he’s experienced. 

“We’ve been having severe floods almost every year since 2019 but this time it was really bad. We even wrote letters to the North West Department of Public Works to at least construct a bigger bridge, it was as if we were foreseeing this disaster,” says Segona.

In addition to schools and shops being damaged, Segona tells Health-e News that some homes have been damaged and families have had to relocate to safer places. No lives have been lost. 

The Moretele local municipality spokesperson Mothupi Malebye says the extent of the damage is not yet known. And that the municipality’s disaster unit has responded to the flooding by seeking alternative shelter for those in need and providing food and blankets. – Health-e News