Residents suffer winter flooding hell!

RESIDENTS from Strand in Cape Town said winter feels like hell to them.

This is due to flooding into their homes whenever it rains. This forces them out of their homes into community halls every year.

Residents from New Town and Wag 'n Bietjie informal settlements said floods that ravaged Cape Town recently left them destitute.

"It's difficult because this happens every year in winter. We lose furniture to floods and find ourselves homeless and living in community halls," said one resident Nwabisa Tofile (44) from New Town.

Community leader Nwabisa Msitwana said they want to be removed from the area and get decent housing.

"We can't live like pigs. Government must help by removing us from this place. We've had enough of the floods. Every year, we're forced to buy furniture because floods destroy it. We have nowhere to go. Hence we're remaining in this inhabitable place."

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Another community leader Nomvula Mbola from New Town, who was at the community hall, said over 100 people were displaced by the floods.

"It's difficult for us. We all sleep in this hall. Children go to school from this hall. I don't think this is good for them. We want government to find ways to provide us with a safe place that doesn't get affected by floods, a place where we can live peacefully with our families," she said.

City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management Centre spokeswoman Charlotte Powell said the municipality continues to co-ordinate responses and assessments of weather-related impacts.

"The city continues to provide assistance in areas where flooding has been reported. To date, Disaster Management officers have made assessments in 41 informal settlements where 1 221 structures were flooded, and 2 246 persons affected. Areas include Khayelitsha, Strand, Gugulethu, Sir Lowry's Pass Village, Wallacedene, Vygieskraal, Bloekombos and Hout Bay," said Powell.