Flood disaster areas to be declared

A number of flood-devastated areas in the country will be declared disaster areas, Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka said on Friday.

Shiceka said the areas would be announced at the weekend, the SABC reported.

One of the places previously declared "critical" was the Vaal area, because of the Vaal dam.

Johannesburg was on Friday preparing for possible flooding. The Weather Service issued a prediction alert of between 60-80 percent chance of rainfall in the highveld for Friday, including Johannesburg, emergency services spokesman Percy Morokane said.

The city had set up a joint operations centre and a flood management task team to reduce the risk of any major flood disaster.

Awareness programmes were set up throughout the city, particularly in flood-prone areas.

These included Klipspruit, Eldorado South, Dube, Mofolo, Meadowlands, Braamfischerville, Orange Farm, Lenasia South, Florida Lake, Rivonia and Witkoppen Roads in Sunninghill, Stjwetla informal settlement along the Jukskei River, London Road in Alexandra and the Kaalrivier in Ivory Park.

About 38 people died, and hundreds of homes were lost in floods which recently gripped parts of the country.