South Africa: Govt Intervenes to Assist Families Amid Cape Town Heavy Rains

At least 500 households, whose homes were destroyed by heavy rains in Cape Town, are being temporarily relocated to safer accommodations, as gale-force winds and heavy rains persist.

This comes after Human Settlements Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, visited the affected areas on Thursday.

Kubayi and Deputy Minister Tandi Mahambehlala led a Human Settlements delegation to assess progress of interventions for families in desperate need of shelter in the unrelenting cold and wet weather.

The Ministerial delegation visited various disaster-stricken areas in Khayelitsha, including Nkandla, Zami Mpilo, Kuyasa and Victoria Mxenge in the Western Cape.

Scores of people have been left temporarily homeless due to water-logged homes across the province as wet weather and flooding continues.

Kubayi said the department’s immediate intervention is to relocate families to be accommodated at the Western Cape School of Governance, where the department will enter into a lease agreement of 30 days.

Kubayi said the department must identify land in two weeks, adding that she has spoken to all the affected families, and they have agreed to move.

“Our concern is mainly that with a level 8 warning, it means the rain will continue and we do not want these communities to continue in this dire state where their shelters are submerged under water.

“We are moving them to a safe place at least for 30 days while we look at alternative land parcels where they can be permanently relocated to build a new life away from flood plains,” Kubayi said.

The Minister noted that the relocation for the community is not only in one ward but will expand to more areas currently in danger or Category C informal settlements [immediate relocation].

The Minister said the City of Town alone has over 800 informal settlements in danger zones, emphasising a need for a more proactive approach when dealing with disasters.

“We need to put preventative measures in place, and this work is ongoing. Moreover, I have instructed MECs in all nine provinces to also identify more of these Category-C informal settlements so that work can continue to mitigate imminent disasters,” Kubayi said.

As part of disaster intervention and mitigation measures, the department also provides the Informal Settlement Upgrading grant to provinces and municipalities. This entails the upgrading of informal settlements in-situ (developing the area where an informal settlement is located) by providing bulk infrastructure like storm water drainage to avert flooding.

Kubayi also underscored the need to put in place bulk infrastructure to mitigate against a situation where people are locked in water, noting that some areas they visited have no proper stormwater drainage system to absorb water during heavy rains.

The Minister also emphasised that the response to disasters requires all the affected government departments play their part in ensuring that the victims are attended to.

“This is because beyond the provision of shelter for the victims, there are other needs such as transport, protection of property (which in some cases gets stolen), food and other necessities,” she said.

Kubayi further acknowledged efforts by NGOs, including the Gift of the Givers, who continuously work with government during emergencies.

She assured that the teams will continue with work onsite throughout the weekend, assessing the structural integrity of damaged formal structures.

“The team from Human Settlements Emergency Housing, which includes the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), has been on the ground since the disaster to provide the necessary support to those who have lost their informal structures in Monwabisi, New Monwabisi Park, and Kuyasa informal settlements, as well as to assess the damage caused to permanent structures,” Kubayi said.