Cape Town - The City of Cape Town says it issued more than 10100 flood kits to reduce the impact of flooding caused by heavy rains this winter.
Mayco member for human settlements Malusi Booi said the City distributed the flood kits to all areas including north, east, south and central metro, Philippi and Dunoon. He said the kits were distributed after storms between May 25 and August 30.
“Newly-invaded areas were the most flooded over the rainy season.”
Booi spoke of “the flooding misery where newly invaded areas have been the most affected by recent storms”.
“That was why the City continued to do its best to prevent the illegal occupation of land.”
Dunoon ward councillor Lubabalo Makeleni said he was not aware of any flood kits sent to his areas “as claimed by the City”.
Makeleni said the only thing the City could do was identify land and give it to people to build their homes.
“Every year we hear the City claiming they have sent flood kits to the affected communities, in fact if they really do, they are wasting money.
“They should just buy land and give it to people,” he said.
Booi said various City departments, including Informal Settlements Management, Roads and Stormwater, and Disaster Risk Management did their utmost to help residents by assisting with emergency materials - flood kits and plastic sheeting, constructing canals to lead flood water away from affected areas where possible, and monitoring high risk priority areas on a daily basis.
“They also determine flooding risks while giving advice to residents on how to reduce this. In general, the worst flood-affected areas from the recent and ongoing rain are newly illegally occupied areas where people have settled on flood plains, on wetlands or other unsuitable land,” Booi said.
He said informality in accommodation was a common occurrence in Cape Town and cities across the country, and was brought on by increased urbanisation.
Booi said the intense demand for accommodation brought about a number of specific challenges, such as unplanned settlements that were located on flood-prone, lower lying areas and in wetlands or near retention ponds.
Cape Argus