Storm-hit evicted while trying to rebuild houses

The City has distanced itself from the eviction of residents in a Kensington informal settlement whose homes were reportedly demolished and materials confiscated while people affected by the inclement weather attempted to rebuild their damaged structures.

Gate 7 informal settlement residents near the Maitland cemetery were among about 50 000 people in the Western Cape who were affected by the heavy rain and gale-force wind.

City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said this was a private eviction.

“The City was not involved in the eviction,” he said.

Resident Funeka Mayongo said the structures were affected by Thursday’s wind, and on Friday people were attempting to rebuild when “officials”-came.

“We identified that they were from the municipality because of the navy work overalls written COCT.

They demolished about four houses that were damaged and took the materials of everyone who attempted to rebuild.

“We are currently accommodating the affected people in our homes. They have nowhere to go.

“What they did in such bad weather is inhumane. Even today about six law enforcement came here taking pictures of the land and inspecting, and they do this often. We want people to be given their material back and answers why they did that,” Mayongo said.

Meanwhile, the City is still conducting assessments, and mop-up operations are expected to start this week.

According to Theewaterskloof Municipality mayor Mary Liebenberg, the harsh weather did not only leave 45 people destitute but some were in the cold without electricity for most of the week.

“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Gift of the Givers for their invaluable assistance. Their efforts in distributing food to over 300 affected individuals in Grabouw have provided much-needed relief.

“I want to thank our local businesses, stakeholders, community organisations, and municipal departments for coming together to support about 45 people currently sheltered in community halls in Greyton and Villiersdorp.

“Our disaster management and operations departments have been working around the clock, monitoring our roads, storms, and stormwater channels, and assisting Eskom technicians in restoring power where infrastructure has been damaged by the storm or vandalism,” said Liebenberg.

In Drakenstein Municipality, about 900 residents who were evacuated in Newton, Wellington, were given the green light to return home on Sunday.

This after a dam engineering specialist performed an inspection of the farm dam above Newton and confirmed that the risk of dam wall failure had been mitigated.

Municipal spokesperson Riana Geldenhuys said residents from Newton between Jan van Riebeeck Drive and the Bo-Dal Road evacuated the area voluntarily on July 9 after the dam wall was at risk of failure.

“This decision was taken in light of the fact that the water level of the 150 000 cubic metre dam in the Bo-Dal area dropped slightly since last night, as well as the lighter rainfall predicted for today.

“According to the authorities, the dam should be able to handle the flow of water that is expected to reach it today. The municipality will keep on monitoring the dam closely and notify residents immediately should the situation change,” said Geldenhuys.

Premier Alan Winde said he had urged national authorities to expedite the process of a provincial disaster classification after they approached the National Disaster Management Centre.

“We desperately need additional resources to sustain our disaster management operations. Assessments still need to be finalised and from our side, as the Western Cape government and our stakeholders in the province, we are working flat out to complete this process. I want again to thank all stakeholders for everything they do in the service of our citizens, particularly the most vulnerable,” said Winde.

Provincial Education MEC David Maynier said public schools in all education districts were expected to be open on Monday.

“We urge parents to ensure that their children are at school so that we can catch up on the time missed last week.

“Where individual schools have permission from the head of department to remain closed due to damage or blocked access roads, these schools will communicate directly with parents.

“We will continue to monitor the weather this week...”

Cape Times