According to the Director for Media Liaison at the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Sputnik Ratau, the Vaal Dam was at 107.4% on Friday, and this morning it was 111.4%.

There is now a total of 4 sluice gates opened, and they will remain opened until further activity is required.

Opening the four gates will protect the infrastructure from collapsing.

“There is a lot of water coming in from the rivers. The Vaal Dam is part of the integrated Vaal river system, which is a system that includes 14 dams. There is a possibility that the dam could fail, and if it fails, there would be a catastrophe downstream of the dam, where flooding would happen. It will not just be flooding of the river - it will also include flooding of the communities downstream, whether it will be farmers or people living in the community.” Ratau further explains.

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