Huge helicopter food drop brings relief to residents cut off by rising waters

Gift of the Givers is working with disaster management, as well as local and district municipal officials, to help residents affected by flooding around the lower Orange River in the Northern Cape. (Photo: Supplied / Gift of the Givers)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

3 Mar 2023

Gift of the Givers has distributed 1,500 food hampers to people around the town of Keimoes in the Northern Cape who have been affected by the lower Orange River floods. A helicopter brought in supplies to settlements that have been cut off.

Gift of the Givers has been providing aid to communities around the town of Keimoes in the Kai !Garib Municipality in the Northern Cape, after rising water levels in the lower Orange River caused flooding in the area.

The region along this stretch of the river is made up of numerous “islands”, often connected by bridges. Residents on certain islands have become increasingly cut off as the lower-lying bridges become submerged.

“We basically started with the people who are stuck on the islands… especially the elderly in those communities, and the vulnerable, but everybody on the [cut-off] islands actually got food hampers – and then we shifted our focus to the people who evacuated,” explained Emily Thomas, Gift of the Givers’ community liaison for the Northern Cape.

Between 27 February and 2 March, the disaster relief group distributed 1,500 hampers containing products such as rice, maize meal, canned food, instant porridge, peanut butter and jam. The team was made up of nine Gift of the Givers volunteers and 20 Community Working Programme members from the local municipality, according to Thomas.

Gift of the Givers has hired a helicopter to deliver aid to those islands around the lower Orange River that have been cut off due to flooding. (Photo: Supplied / Gift of the Givers)

The areas that were helped include George Eiland, Meyers Eiland, Vyebos, Lanklaas Eiland, Perde Eiland, Kanoneiland, Plangeni and surrounding areas, Sand Eiland, Elim, Voster and Sandkop, according to the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality.

“There weren’t really any major challenges since we worked with disaster management... We worked as a team, and we could then quickly eliminate some of the problems that we experienced,” said Thomas.

“We used a helicopter that Gift of the Givers hired, and we could at least take those supplies over to these people [on the islands].”

Read in Daily Maverick: “Flooding disaster – see map of all districts affected across South Africa”

Gift of the Givers had already built a relationship with the local municipality through previous aid work, during flooding in November 2022, said Thomas.

“The presence of the Gift of the Givers is to bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable. The communities that received the food parcels were very happy and grateful, primarily because they were displaced and had no access to shops or other means of getting food,” said the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality.

The municipality “is grateful for the assistance received from the Gift of Givers Foundation and their quick response to the adversity faced by our people”.

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Dirk Malan, a farmer from Keimoes, told Maverick Citizen that the Gift of the Givers intervention had made a difference for people who had been cut off.

“Most of us… on a daily basis, we can get some fresh fruit and meat and everything. Now, with the two disasters on one spot – the load shedding on the one side and the high water levels [on the other] – most of the people can’t eat anything fresh. For local people, that’s a bigger problem than it normally [is],” he said.

Cause of the flooding

The flooding in the lower Orange and Vaal river systems is largely a result of the high volumes of water released from the Vaal Dam on the border between Gauteng and the Free State, and the Bloemhof Dam on the border between North West and the Free State. Heavy rains in most parts of the country caused the dams to fill to capacity, forcing the Department of Water and Sanitation to implement dam safety protocols.

Department data shows that on Thursday, 2 March, the flow of the Orange River at Upington – a town about 45 minutes from Keimoes – was 4,466 cubic metres per second. A week earlier, on 22 February, it was 2,927 cubic metres per second.

Read in Daily Maverick:

“Parys residents in the Free State pick up the pieces after Vaal River bursts its banks”

“Farms and lodges along the lower Orange River brace for further wipeouts as floodwaters rise”

The river levels were expected to peak between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and could take about a week to start dropping again, said Malan.

“We are grateful that no loss of life or serious injury as a result of the flooding can be reported. Furthermore, there has been no need for rescue missions caused by people in the waters,” added the district municipality.

“We still urge the public to be vigilant and avoid areas with high water levels and keep themselves and others safe.” DM/MC

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Cause of the flooding