Sagree Chetty

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says deputy mayor of the Bitou Municipality in Plettenberg Bay, Nokuzola Kolwapi, will appear in court on the 23rd of June for the public discharge of a firearm. NPA Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says Kolwapi has been served with summons to appear in court. The court appearance stems from video’s circulated on social media, showing her firing a weapon several times into the air at her son’s homecoming ceremony in Kwanokuthula.

Disaster management teams in the Garden Route and Little Karoo regions of the Western Cape are this week focusing on reaching cut-off communities and assessing damage to roads and other infrastructure following last week’s category 8 storm. The storm brought heavy rainfall, flooding, power outages, landslides, and rockfalls across much of the region. Some areas received over 300 millimetres of rain over three days. Several rural communities were cut off by floodwaters.

An animal sanctuary in Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape is counting the costs after being flooded twice by the storms which hit the region. After reopening, this week following the May 6th floods, Cango Wildlife sustained further damage. They had just started moving hundreds of animals that were evacuated back to the facility when this week’s rain caused the Grobbelaars river to flood again. Staff at Cango Wildlife say they’re grateful to have jobs despite the blow to the tourism industry.