THE City of Cape Town has been criticised for shutting the doors of community halls as residents were left out in the cold when their homes were flooded this week following heavy rains.
The ANC ripped into the City’s plans to deal with the effects of the heavy rain which led to localised flooding and damaged property and infrastructure, describing its winter readiness plan as “delusional” and “useless”.
Images of flooded roads and homes of some of the 100 informal settlements affected by the deluge showed residents scrambling to salvage their belongings and wading through knee-deep water.
A resident from Rusthof in Strand, Alberto Gordon, has been a victim of floods for several years.
“Every year the City promises but never cleans the canal of reeds and waste, resulting in houses being flooded, particularly those situated close to a nearby school,” he said.
Gordon said his house was waterlogged due to the recent floods.
“Our neighbours had to send their baby to a family member because it wasn’t safe for the baby to be in the same house,” Gordon said, adding that the City refused to house them and other people in the community halls.
Community leader at the Covid informal settlement near Driftsand, Bongile Zanazo, said most families were still dealing with the damage from the rains.
“We are still in a state of shock. I lost almost everything. It’s damaged. Even the food we have was affected by the water. We are in a difficult situation,” Zanazo told Weekend Argus.
“We are saddened by the City’s decision to refuse to open community halls for the victims. The DA-led government hates black people, so it’s not a surprise to us,“ Zanazo said.
In a strongly-worded letter sent to Weekend Argus, the ANC called for an urgent council meeting to address the City’s plans to deal with the havoc caused by the floods.
The ANC expressed outrage over the City’s refusal to allow those who were left destitute by the floods to be housed in community halls.
“The City needs to provide shelter in halls, give blankets and food to the worst affected – that’s our proposal to the inhumane DA policy of refusing to allow halls to be used,” said the party.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the ANC was being “dramatic”.
“We are doing all we can – providing fresh water and toilets, pumping water out, providing food and supplies through NGO partners,” Hill-Lewis said.
“We cannot open the community halls as in previous years these halls have been lost for public use as they are then permanently occupied and residents refuse to move out,” he said.
Over the weekend, the City said there were nine areas which remained flooded and that teams were out pumping water to help residents begin with mop-up operations.
“Several of these areas are located in stormwater catchment ponds or wetlands, making it very difficult to make headway in pumping water out,” the City said in a statement.
The ANC said the mayor’s stance was shocking, and had written to the speaker of the council to request a special meeting.
“This is to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with the current situation and prepare for the coming winter rains,“ said the party’s leader of the opposition in the Western Cape, Cameron Dugmore.
“Our councillors will challenge the DA’s anti-poor strategy of refusing to allow its halls to those who were literally living in water,” he said.
The party also outlined a 10-point plan to deal with the matters at hand, which included “immediate relief” through pumping out water, clearing canals, using sand and building rubble to ensure accessible pathways in the communities.
It also called for a public works programme involving unemployed community members to carry out the work, and for funding to be dedicated to address infrastructure backlogs over the past 15 years.
“Land should be released by all spheres of government to those communities living below the flood line,” Dugmore said.
“They should immediately review their winter readiness plan, which has failed. With the rest of winter still to come, they should provide detailed reports and discussion at all affected subcouncil meetings, starting this coming Monday,” he said.
Dugmore called for a special council meeting to be scheduled for this Friday.
Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Jacques Moolman said while it was too early to know the financial extent of flood-related damage, the extensive flooding would undoubtedly have caused widespread damage, both to public infrastructure and private property.
“Flooded roadways have reportedly damaged homes in several suburbs.
“Weather-related power outages impact on business operations, particularly smaller operations which may not have power contingency plans.
“Many residents in flood-affected areas stayed home to rescue belongings and minimise flood damage.
“All of this represents an opportunity cost to the economy, in addition to the cost of repairing public infrastructure damaged by floodwaters,” Moolman said.
In the meantime, more rain is expected to lash the flood-ravaged city.
Snow is expected to reach parts of the Western Cape by Wednesday, according to the South African Weather Service.
Weekend Argus