Category Archives: floods

Sowetan: Union warns that farmworkers could lose their jobs after floods

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http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/01/31/union-warns-that-farmworkers-could-lose-their-jobs-after-floods

Union warns that farmworkers could lose their jobs after floods

THE Food and Allied Workers’ Union has said farmworkers were likely to lose their jobs following the recent floods that left a number of farms across the country under water.

The government declared a state of emergency in eight provinces after this month’s floods killed 100 people, and wiped out many crops.

Now Fawu spokesperson Dominique Swartz has said farmworkers who work for small-scale farmers would be the losers.

She called on the government to help emerging and commercial farmers, saying that food security could be affected if the farmers did not manage to plant new crops soon.

She said the union suspected that farmworkers might lose their jobs, and the number of small-scale farms would dwindle if the government did not give the crisis its priority attention.

Yesterday Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini abruptly cancelled a press conference on the floods, which was scheduled for the Union Buildings.

Dlamini had promised to give an update on the government’s and other humanitarian assistance to individuals and households affected by the floods.

Meanwhile, the city of Cape Town said it was prepared for the severe flooding that is expected there from May onwards.

“The city’s disaster risk management centre will implement its winter flooding plan as per usual this year,” said Greg Pillay, manager of disaster risk management.

Pillay said that because of the city’s efforts only 9100 people had been affected by floods last year – an improvement from the 11500 affected in 2009.

But Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape president Mzonke Poni accused Pillay of lying.

“They think poor people are stupid because we are living in flood-prone areas,” said Poni.

“It is appalling. The situation remains the same every winter.

“They only supply people with blankets and put them in community halls. They need to build proper houses,” he said.

The City of Cape Town is Politicising Flood Aid & Failing to Deal with the Structural Issues

Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
Thursday 16 July, 2009

More than ten Cape Flats informal settlements hardest hit by last week’s floods did not receive any emergency assistance at all from the City of Cape Town or the Provincial Government. This include Tambo Square, Barcelona, New Rest and Gxa Gxa Square in the Gugulethu area. In addition to this, the city continues to ignore the plight of vulnerable backyard dwellers whose homes have been flooded.

Many AEC communities as well as communities other poor settlements are now in dire straights as a result of recent floods. In Khayelitsha, spurred on by massive floods in their communities, many Abahlali baseMjondolo settlements have closed down Landsdowne Road in protest against the government’s refusal to provide the poor with land or housing.

But still, the City and Province continues to play favourites only supporting some settlements while ignoring others. Disaster management only shows up at high-profile communities or communities that do not protest against the local DA or ANC councillors. This party politics is destroying Cape Town.

And yet, while the Anti-Eviction Campaign and other poor people condemn the selective support given to flooded communities, we also strongly condemn the government for their short-sightedness. The floods happen every single year and the government does absolutely nothing to prevent them from happening. They would rather give blankets and soup to distressed families because its good for publicity.

But these floods are easy to prevent. The government could just build more adequate houses for the poor. An even easier and more sustainable approach would be to grant these poor communities some well-located open and serviced land where they can build their own houses (not TRAs like blikkiesdorp which are worse than informal settlements ). But the government would rather sell off its land to private developers than give it too the poor. So, ultimately, the crisis of flooding in the informal settlements is caused by government’s anti-poor policies. Its not the weather, its the unequal distribution of adequate land!

The Anti-Eviction Campaign condemns this short-sightedness! How come us poor people understand how to plan for sustainable cities whereas the government officials with all their degrees know nothing about pro-poor development?

For more information, contact AEC coordinator Mncedisi Twalo at 0785808646.
Also contact Mbulelo Zuba, AEC community leader from Barelona, at 0736747077


Fire in the flood, Cape Town, July 2009

M&G: Thousands left homeless in wake of heavy Cape rains

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http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-07-13-thousands-left-homeless-in-wake-of-heavy-cape-rains

Thousands left homeless in wake of heavy Cape rains
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Jul 13 2009 12:59

Thousands of shack dwellers were left homeless on Monday morning after heavy rains caused flooding around Cape Town.

Charlotte Powell, a spokesperson for Cape Town’s disaster and emergency management, said about 9 000 people from 2 500 shacks had been affected by the floods.

No injuries have been reported.

“We are mopping up across city,” she said. “We have 20 informal settlements that have been affected. They are mostly on the Cape Flats.”

Emergency shelter was being provided for the affected people in community halls. Powell said the Lourens River in Strand and Liesbeek River outside the city had burst their banks.

She said floods had also hit suburbs such as Newlands, Rondebosch, Claremont, Athlone and Somerset West.

Disaster management services were trying to unblock stormwater drains.

Gail Linnow, client liaison officer for South African Weather Service Cape Town, said the weather office at Cape Town International Airport recorded the second-highest rainfall for a 24-hour period in July since recording started in 1957.

“The station recorded 55,2mm for the 24 hours from 8am on Sunday to 8am today [Monday]. The highest figure recorded for a 24-hour period in July was 61mm in 1985,” she said.

The record for a 24-hour period was 93,7mm, recorded at the airport in April 1993.

Linnow said figures from an automatic weather station in the Elgin-Grabouw area showed 148,2mm had fallen in the district between 8am on Sunday and 8am on Monday. This was the highest recorded since the station was established in 2004.

Rian Smit, a SAWS forecaster at Cape Town Weather Office, said the severe weather would continue in the Western Cape on Monday.

“Snow is forecast for the Western Cape mountains today [Monday],” he said.

“The freezing level is at 5 000 feet, and while this will not close the [road] passes, it will definitely put some snow on the peaks.

“The weather is set to improve tomorrow. A weak weather system will pass over the Cape on Wednesday, but the forecast for Thursday and Friday is sunny weather.”

At Matroosberg nature reserve, snow was reported to have fallen on the second highest peak in the Western Cape.

“There is small crack in the cloud and we can just about see that it has snowed on top of the mountain,” said Mietdie Jasper, who works at the reserve. – Sapa

Cape Argues: Thambo Square Floods

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http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4627067

NGO steps in to help shack dwellers

September 25 2008 at 12:37PM

By Nomangesi Mbiza

Thambo Square informal settlement residents in Gugulethu, whose shacks were flooded in recent rains, received blankets and food parcels from the International Islamic Relief organisation on Wednesday.

The plight of the residents came to light after they occupied the social services building in Gugulethu on Tuesday, seeking building materials and plastics for their shacks, as well as blankets and temporary accommodation.

The homeless group were offered shelter at a local community hall after their protest.

Zoliswa Fuyani, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, said ward councillor Belinda Landingwe had not wanted to listen to those who had voted her in.

“When she (the ward councillor) is called to listen to our grievances she tells the people she cannot do anything for them,” Fuyani said.

However Landingwe said the residents of Thambo Square were taken to a temporary area in Delft after the flooding began.

“I don’t know why they came back but some of them told me that when they arrived in Delft their rooms were occupied by other people,” she said.

Landingwe said some of the residents had houses in a nearby area which were provided by the government, but that they had decided to rent them out.

“I am dealing with people who are affected by floods, not people who already have houses. And this is not the only place affected, there are other areas,” Landingwe pointed out.

She said she had conducted an inspection of the affected area and discovered that the water level had dropped, adding that she did not deal specifically with leaking roofs, but assisted only when flooding took place.

But the residents said they were tired of the “soup” that Landingwe kept feeding them, when all they wanted was proper housing.

“We don’t need anything from them as they always respond with soup,” said resident Silindile Mvambo.

Mcebisi Twalo, a representative of the Anti-Eviction Campaign, said they had called the International Islamic Relief and told them there were people who needed help.

“They visited the area last night and decided to offer people food and blankets.

“A local butcher also donated meat,” said Twalo.

o This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on September 25, 2008

AbM & AEC Statement: Floods Rock The City

Floods Rock the City

Joint AbM and AEC Press Statement
24 September 2008

Gugulethu — About 50 residents from Thambo Square informal settlement have been displaced from their homes to a local community hall as a result of flooding in their shacks (Cape Town’s heavy rain this winter has left a lot of people homeless in the City.

The devastated group early this morning marched to the office of their local Department of Social Development seeking immediate relief or intervention such as building material for their shacks, plastic to put over their roof, blankets and a temporary sleeping place. However all they were able to get from Social Development was an unpleasing response. People were told that the ANC government had nothing to do with their situation and they must go to DA. When trying to question the unpleasing response by government, instead of receiving a proper report, the police were called to intimidate and threaten the residents. Residents then went back to their flooded homes in Thambo Square informal settlement.

‘We don’t want their soup and bread we are not hungry maybe the reason why they ill treat us they think that we are here to demand food, we only need alternatives such as relocation to better suitable land or BNG houses, not desperate for food as they think’ said frustrated Libo Meyi (072 488 3025).

Unemployed Neliswa who has been staying at the area for the past 10 years said ‘we need distribution of roof sails and building material only’ (073 850 4291).

Noluseko is a mother of three children, and the floods left her with nothing (all her valuable furniture had been damaged by the rain): ‘I don’t talk about my hi-fi, TV and DVD they are dead as talking to you’ she said. ‘We don’t need food and blankets, we’ve got them and they are flooded even if they can give us blankets they’ll still be affected by water like our blankets, what we need from them we need houses, even if its wendy houses as they are provided to people at other areas such as Philippi, people at their areas do received R500 for disaster at other areas but not at this area why?’, she asked (071 919 7062).

According to Zoliswa Fuyani who has been staying at the area for more than 20 years the Ward Councilor does not want to listen to people who put her where she is today. When the ward counselor is called to listen to peoples grievances she will tell the people that she does not have anything to do with them.

A 55 years old lady who only wanted to be identified as Makhulu (who has been staying at Thambo Square for more that 11 years) commented: ‘my house is flooded and I had to go to families members asking a place to stay for my three grandchildren, they don’t have anything to eat and their clothes is wet and they only left with the ones that they are wearing’. Her only wish is for the current MEC for housing (who lives in Gugulethu) to visit their area so that he can see the appalling conditions that people are living under. ‘When Whitey Jacobs come here I want him to tell me when am I going to receive my house key’ she said (083 857 7780).

According to Vinus Nogqala, the problem at Thambo Square lies with community leaders who enjoy the power and playing politics with people’s plights. She had lost her son in the early 90’s because he was involved in politics. She was only compensated with R30 000 which she described as sweets. She is currently under TB treatment and is living with her 7 years grandson who had undergone a serious stomach operation at Grooteschuur hospital 3 years back. ‘I know how politics works and how people are exploited by politicians and I am tired of lip services and empty promise, what I desperately need is a proper place to put a head under’ she said. ‘We don’t need soup or bread we’ve got plenty at our places, the only thing that we need is a proper place to live at, and toilets.’

‘We don’t need anything from them as they always response with soup and blankets, we’ll make sure that we’ll reject them’ said devastated Silindile Mvambo who is 23 years old (078 355 7822).

‘People have passed away here because of double pneumonia who occurred as a results of their living situations, early his week one person died at this area and I want government officials to come and see themselves this things that I am talking about. We need proper houses and if they can’t at least they must try to alleviate the ground level as the area is below the ground level which makes it prone to flooding’ said 24 years old Siphokazi Bushman who is a community leader (0783298 321).

After 2 hours of engaging, community members decided to go to occupy the local community hall. Just 30 minutes after occupying the hall the Ward Councilor finally showed up to engage with the residents. Due to the high tension between the residents and the Ward Councilor, the Chairperson of newly formed Western Cape brank of the shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, Mzonke Poni, was asked to facilitate the meeting between the residents and the councilor. After 3 hours of engaging with the counselor the solution was found where it was agreed that:

1. The community hall will be available to community members until the rain is over.

2. The Ward Councilor will seek other disaster relief packages such as blankets and sleeping mattress.

3. The Ward Councilor needs to report the city of Cape Town so that a generator can be provided to pump the water out of the area

4. City of Cape Town needs to be pressurized to identify dry land to relocate people to. The land needs to be in Gugulethu or nearby, not outside the city in dumping sits such as Delft and ‘unhappy valley’ [Happy Valley]

The residents of Thambo square are receiving unlimited support from Gugulethu backyard dwellers who affiliate to Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign.

For more information please contact:

Mzonke Poni from Abahlali baseMjondolo 0732562036
Mncedisi Twalo from Gugulethu Backyard dwellers 0788508646
Zubenashi who is a community leader at 073 8858 599

Or any other people who contributed at this press statement, their numbers are available next to their comments.