Shack dwellers in Khayelitsha endure another winter flood

As cold, wet and windy conditions continue to sweep across the Western Cape, informal settlements in places like Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Langa, Strand, Eersterivier and Bishop Lavis are flooded. Residents have been urged to stay vigilant. The torrential rain across the Cape metropole has prompted humanitarian relief operations by Gift of the Givers and the provincial government.

Elitsha visited some of the flooded settlements in Khayelitsha.

Xolani Vena, who stays with his three kids and his wife, showed Elitsha water stagnating around his house in Qandu-qandu, Khayelitsha. Vena said water seeps in through the floor and spreads around his shack. “The water makes my shack cold and forced us to stand under blankets on my bed,” he said.
He says he scoops the water from the floor with buckets but it accumulates again. ”I experience floods every winter. I would be pleased if the government could place me somewhere dry.”

Flood victim Lihle Qubani breastfeeds her three-month-old baby at Fulani Community Hall in Site C, Khayelitsha. “I have been a victim of floods ever since I settled in Taiwan informal settlement in 2008. I tried to remove the water with buckets but it kept on coming back into my shack. Now I want to leave it and stay in a livable place and raise my baby. My baby is hungry because I have run out of baby food,” she said.

Paulina Maqhina, Phathiswa Sefa, Veliswa Soga and Polisa Dayimane rest on a mattress to stay warm at Fulani Community Hall in Site C. “We are here because the floods have made our shacks uninhabitable. We are worried about our furniture that we left in our shacks,” said Maqhina.

Mvuyiseni Jebese scoops water outside his flooded shack in Taiwan informal settlement. “I must wear gumboots to move around inside my shack. The shack is cold, so I wear clothes when I sleep because my blankets don’t make me warm enough. I can’t stay relaxed and steady. I always tremble because of the cold. Every winter my shack becomes flooded and uninhabitable.”

Community leader Lindile Godongwana stands outside one of the abandoned shacks in Taiwan. “About 20 of my neighbours have left their shacks because they are flooded. Most of them are unemployed, so they can’t buy bricks and other materials to lift their shacks above the ground level. They moved out and placed their belongings in the care of their friends and relatives,” he said.

Siyabulela Adonisi, who stays with his wife and two kids, installs a water pipe in his yard to channel water out of his shack in Taiwan informal settlement. The rain water inside his shack damaged his fridge and other electrical appliances.

Nandipha Titi sits next to a brazier to keep warm in her flooded shack in Taiwan. “I sleep at Fulani Community Hall because my room and bed are wet. Now I have made fire to dry up my place and stay warm. The water dries up when there is fire. I want the government to place me somewhere that can stay dry,” she said.