The heavy downpours that were experienced in the country since last week around Nata and Tutume have made travelling impossible in some areas.

Water, which has submerged almost 20 kilometres of the A3 road after the Sowa Town crossing, has made travelling in small vehicles almost impossible.

By midday on Monday, large trucks and buses were able to use the road while smaller vehicles turned back owing to the increasing volume of the water which had engulfed the eastern part of the road.

Owners of most of the cattle posts, which had been submerged in water, had abandoned them for their own safety.

A farmer at Semowane lands, Mr Gakebabone Gwaae, whose small holding had not yet been affected by the flooding was lost for words when describing the water that kept flowing from nowhere.

“We suspect that this water comes from the Bukalanga area where they received above average rainfall for the whole of last week. In my life I have seen something closer to this in 1999 but the water levels were lower than the current ones,” he said.

He explained that because the water had flooded the A3 road, they were leaving in fear of being washed away in their sleep. The old man also decried that all his mud houses had collapsed.

Another farmer, Ms Elang Makgethe, said she sought refuge three days ago in Nata, as she could not spend the night at her two hectare field because she suspected that the flooding might get worse.

She had come from Nata on Monday to continue with weeding but due to the floods, she abandoned the mission. Meanwhile, two herd boys, Besten Amang of Manxotae settlement and Blackie Doko of Nata, aged 27 and 56 respectively, have lived to tell their story.

After being cut off from the access road connecting Dukwi and the cattle post for more than three days, they sanctioned all the courage and braved the floods.

They explained that they left their cattle post early in the morning on Monday crossing over huge swathes of water in the forest to try and reach the A3 road. “When we started our journey, the water was just above our knees but at one point it was above our waist but we persevered and reached the road,” said Doko.

Besten explained that their food supplies finished three days ago and they resorted to feeding only on cow milk, which was not sustainable.

“It was hunger which forced us to brave these floods otherwise we would have perished at the cattle post as our employer could not reach us despite numerous attempts,” he noted.

Recounting their ordeal, the seemingly exhausted duo said on their way to the road, they passed cattle post with carcasses of dead goats, dogs and sheep floating in water with no signs of human life.

They explained that their desperation to come out of the water meant that they could not check to see if there was anyone trapped in the mud houses.

Nata and Sowa Town police had earlier issued travel warnings for motorists, urging those who used small vehicles not to use the road as it was dangerous. Only big trucks and buses managed to cross the flooded area. ENDS

Author : Puso Kedidimetse