Flood alert – but borders open

Heavy and persistent rainfall in the north of the country over the past week has severely damaged road infrastructure and affected the country’s border operations. According to the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints), despite rainfall subsiding in South Africa, flooding remains a concern across the country as the waters move towards the sea and heavy rains also continue to fall over southern Mozambique. Flooding of the entire Limpopo Valley is not being ruled out. Last week most of the low-level bridges crossing the Limpopo River were closed while the Beitbridge border post was shut down for hours after the flooded Limpopo River left the new Limpopo Bridge inaccessible. Border posts linking South Africa to Botswana and Mozambique were also closed down due to heavy rains and flooding. At the time of going to press the Limpopo River had subsided, allowing the border posts to be opened, but warnings were still being issued. The warnings were being extended from the north of the country, as the water was moving toward Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal where flash floods could also be experienced. Mehluli Mwale, administration manager for Professional Clearing which has offices at Beitbridge, said the border post had been fully functional for more than a week with the river having subsided substantially. “Currently there is no backup of trucks with cargo flowing well as the primary bridge used for commercial trucks is the New Limpopo Bridge, which is open.” CAPTION Beitbridge last week … truck drivers urged to exercise extreme caution.