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At least 500 households whose properties are submerged in water following disastrous floods in Cape Town are being relocated to safer accommodations temporarily, as gale-force winds and heavy rains persist.

The urgent government intervention happened as Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Deputy Minister Tandi Mahambehlala led a human settlements delegation to assess the progress of interventions for families in desperate need of shelter in the unrelenting cold and wet weather.

A similar approach was adopted during the recent floods in Gqeberha and Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape and Buffalo City and the intention is for this to be replicated across the country. This also means that the immediate priority is to identify land within two weeks where affected households can permanently be moved to begin their new lives.

The Ministerial delegation visited various disaster-stricken areas in Khayelitsha including Nkandla, Zamimpilo, Kuyasa, and Victoria Mxenge. Scores of people have been left temporarily homeless due to water-logged homes across the province because of continued wet weather and flooding.

“Our immediate intervention is to relocate families to be accommodated at the Western Cape School of Governance where we will enter into a lease agreement of 30 days. In two weeks, we must identify land and I have spoken to all the families who are affected, and they have agreed to move,” said Minister Kubayi.

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

The relocation for this community is not only in one ward but will expand to more areas currently in danger or Category C informal settlements. The City of Town alone has over 800 of these informal settlements in danger zones and Minister Kubayi emphasised 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,” said Minister Kubayi.

As part of disaster intervention and mitigation measures, the Department of Human Settlements also provides the Informal Settlement Upgrading grant to Provinces and Municipalities, which 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.

“In some areas we visit we find that there is no proper stormwater drainage system to absorb water during heavy rains, so we need to put in place the bulk infrastructure to mitigate against a situation where people are locked in water”, said the Minister.

The Minister appealed for greater coordination amongst all spheres of government whenever disaster strikes, “as communities cared more about how soon government responds to their plight, and less about competition or blame games amongst leaders”.

“My appeal to those we work with in human settlements, is that we are not here to compete or throw stones at each other, but we must complement each other to work as a family and as a team in responding to communities”, said Kubayi.

The Minister emphasized that the response to disasters requires all the affected government departments to 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 their properties which in some cases get stolen, and food and other necessities.

The Minister acknowledged efforts by NGOs such as the Gift of the Givers amongst others, who continuously work with the government during emergencies.
Teams will continue with work onsite through the weekend. This includes 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 disasters happened to provide the necessary support to those who have lost their informal structures in Monwabisi, New Momwabisi Park, and Kuyasa informal Settlements as well as to assess damages caused to permanent structures.  

Issued by Department of Human Settlements