Winelands families battle flooding: “For three days people have not slept”
Relentless rain hampers relief efforts
Nomawethu Hanise stands in her home in Spoekiesdorp.
Cape Winelands communities have seen no relief from wind and heavy rain that has flooded many homes in informal settlements. In Rawsonville, residents’ homes in Spoekiesdorp and Bos Nakata informal settlements have been waterlogged for days.
Spoekiesdorp resident Mateko Mohobo said that it had been raining since the weekend. Earlier this week while they were sleeping, they heard people screaming outside. “The river was full. It washed over,” she said.
Mohobo fled to her cousin’s house nearby for the night. But she decided to sleep in her flooded home again on Wednesday evening.
When GroundUp arrived in Spoekiesdorp on Thursday, the water was still ankle-deep in many houses. The rain had stopped for a while, but it started raining hard again by early evening.
Mateko Mohobo in front of her flooded home on Thursday, saying that they are still waiting for more rain over the next few days.
Spoekiesdorp informal settlement is home to about a thousand people, many of them farm workers who have been evicted from farms they used to live at, GroundUp previously reported.
Resident Tomas Dumzela said that most people flee when the water gets bad, and then return to their houses again. You can’t desert your home, otherwise opportunists will break into your place, he said.
Mbuyiselo Mboyisi stands in his flooded home in Spoekiesdorp.
People have been making fires to keep warm and charging their phones at people’s houses that still have electricity, explained Dumzela.
All of their things were damaged, he said. “For three days people have not slept … People are suffering on this side.”
Dumzela said that the same flooding happened last year and that the municipality needed a proper plan to address the issue.
Houses along the Smalblaar River was flooded in almost knee deep water.
Resident Joseph Molale has stacked mattresses high on other furniture so his family could still sleep in the flooded home.
He will struggle to get all of the water out, because the rain has not stopped, and water then flows back into the house.
Joseph Molale said that they will struggle to get all of the water out of their home.
In another nearby informal settlement called Bos Nakata, some homes are completely uninhabitable. Resident Mphumzi Mnisi had to leave his home because the water was “too much”. He is now living with family.
Many homes were flooded and toilets fell over in Rawsonville informal settlements.
Thabo Ndluzele’s home next to the Smalblaar River was flooded. The water was so deep we were unable to get to the front door.
The Breede Valley Municipality said in a statement that they’ve evacuated about 170 residents from informal settlements in Rawsonville and that the municipality has been “inundated with service complaints and requests for disaster relief”.
“We are extremely concerned that certain residents, at their own peril and against the advice of our coordinating disaster team, have opted to return to their structures. Not only does this complicate our rescue efforts by draining our resources, but also significantly increases the risk of loss of life, particularly amongst the most vulnerable such as children and the elderly,” the statement said.
Mathews Swartz said that he has been in and out, sometimes staying at his children’s place, and sometimes sleeping in his flooded home.
Mphumzi Mnisi stands outside his flooded home in the Bos Nakata informal settlement. He has been staying with family because his home was too flooded.
Flooding has been reported in the surrounding Cape Winelands areas such as in Drommedaris, Mbekweni, and Newton in Paarl, and New Rest in Wellington.
There have also been power outages in Worcester and De Doorns, according to a statement by the Western Cape Premier’s office, and thousands of structures have been damaged affecting about 15,000 people in the province.
Next: Shelters scramble as heavy rain continues
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