Flood victims at Island Informal Settlement in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on the Cape Flats are appealing for help after their dwellings were flooded.
Residents in various low-lying areas in Cape Town have been severely affected by an intense cold front that is gripping the Western Cape, bringing with it cold weather conditions and heavy rain. Flooding has been reported at several informal settlements, in areas including Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, and Mfuleni.
Lindokuhle Ladlokova says the situation has worsened their lives.
“There’s a lot of water here. Some of us are eating treatment. Now we cannot eat our treatment. We can’t eat, and we can’t sleep. Many people have tried to stay on the other sides. So there’s many things we can’t do. We can’t eat, we can’t sleep, we can’t go to school and work,” says Ladlokova.
Two rivers and a canal in the Cape Town Metro have burst their banks during heavy downpours on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre’s spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, says this has caused a factory to be flooded, an Eskom substation to malfunction and trip, and a caravan park to be evacuated.
She says several roads and streets in the local authority have also been under stormwater and closed due to mud and uprooted trees on the roadway.
Powell says they are still assessing the situation.
“The impacts of these rivers bursting their banks have had the following impacts: flooding at the Johnson and Johnson factory in Tokai, the Lourens river overflow impacted on the Somerset West Eskom sub-station. The City and Eskom are working together to restore the power in the Helderberg area. Kay’s Caravan Park in Strand is being evacuated. The Help-n-Hand NGO is accommodating the residents. Various informal settlements in Philippi, Strand, Gugulethu, Mfuleni, Masiphumelele and Khayelitsha have been flooded.”
SA Weather Services issues weather warnings in different regions:
