The Department says in a statement it is an unnecessary ploy by reckless social media users meant to cause panic amid a tragedy affecting residents of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Departmental spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, says in a statement the dam is equipped with 10 Hydroplus fuse gates which are designed to "tip" and fail in sequence to avoid catastrophic failure of the entire dam. 

Wally Ramokopa, a Director in the Dam Safety Regulation Unit within the Department, says Gate 1 on the far-left and Gate 2 on the far-right started tipping when the dam reached a specific level; this is part of the design and is therefore a safety measure. 

ALSO READ: #KZNfloods: State of Disaster declared

He says had this not occurred, the dam was going to be subjected to more pressure which would threaten the stability of the concrete wall and possible overtopping of the non-overspill crest. He explains it is thus behaving as it should during flooding conditions as presently experienced in parts of KZN . 

Ramokopa said a team of experienced dam safety office engineers is on high alert to monitor the situation at the dam, there is absolutely no need to be alarmed.

The rest of the eight gates will fail should the water level rise higher than 2.4m above the full supply level at intervals of 0.1 mitres until the last gate fuses, and this should happen in a specific sequence.  

ALSO READ: #KZNfloods: Death toll rises; Ramaphosa consoles grieving families

Ramokopa admitted that the dam’s storage capacity will unfortunately be reduced if such an eventuality occurs until the fuse gates are restored.

WATCH: Due to the ongoing #KZNFloods, the gates of the Shongweni dam in Durban have collapsed. According to the management of the dam, this is part of the contingency plans to allow for free water flow during serious flooding. #KZNFlooding @DailyNews pic.twitter.com/B0hY1e6wmO

— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) April 13, 2022

The department also reiterated its plea to residents to steer away from riverbanks and overflowing dams as persistent rain is still forecast in the province and some parts of the country during the Easter Weekend.

Release