South Africa: Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning on disaster management response

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At a virtual media briefing today Premier Alan Winde and Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning Minister Anton Bredell gave an update on the Western Cape Government’s disaster management response to the inclement weather affecting numerous regions in the province.

“The Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) has been coordinating all our efforts to manage the situation,” said the Premier. He added, “I would like to thank all Western Cape Government (WCG) departments, as well as other government departments, our first responders, law enforcement partners, and NGOs who have been working tirelessly to keep residents safe and mitigate, as far as possible, the impact of this disaster. Your expertise and sacrifice never go unnoticed and are deeply appreciated by all of us.”

The PDMC is receiving regular updates and this information will be communicated to the public accordingly.

Premier Winde has appealed to residents to remain calm and not to take any unnecessary risks.

Minister Bredell said there is extensive flooding across the province. “The next 12 hours will be very difficult. But our emergency teams have done an outstanding job in saving lives, which is always our first priority in situations such as these. The hard work of our teams over a number of years in preparing for emergencies such as these has also been demonstrated in how we have responded” he continued.

Schalk Carstens, acting Head of the PDMC, said that the centre and all its entities had been preparing days in advance for the cold front. The weather system is moving towards the Garden Route region, but it has been downgraded to level 6 for now.

The South African Weather Service had issued a level 9 warning of disruptive rain and gale force winds.

Assessments on the extent of the damage will be carried out in due course when it is safe to do so.

There are numerous road closures. Amongst many others, the N2 is closed at Bot Rivier, with traffic being diverted at Swellendam, and the N1 between De Doorns and Worcester is currently closed with traffic being diverted via Wolseley, Ceres and Trompsberg pass. The Western Cape Government is constantly updating its online platforms as the situation changes.

Please visit for the latest updates: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/news/road-closure-alert-25-september

Should members of the public require any further information, they are encouraged to contact the Western Cape Government Contact Centre. Additional staff have been bought on board to assist members of the public

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Western Cape Government: Office of the Premier.