Last week's rain wreaked havoc in several parts of the township, flooding houses, as frantic residents tried to keep the water at bay.
Last week's rain wreaked havoc in several parts of the township, flooding houses, as frantic residents tried to keep the water at bay.
One of the hardest hit areas was Ronaskaap Squatter Camp, near J Street, where residents had to drill holes and dig furrows to drain water from their flooded houses.
Resident Lindelwa Ncula took the Grocott's Mail on a guided tour of her family's five-roomed house. Every room was flooded and furniture floated around.
"The water leaks through the floor and the walls. Not so much the roof, but, I have put out basins, big dishes and buckets," said Ncula.
She said they'd had to drill holes into the wall to let the water out.
"It's about time the government built us houses," she said. Norman Rooi, a bricklayer who has lived in the area for 15 years, didn't report for work yesterday at Dup Meyer Construction yesterday, because he had to drain water from his flooded house.
"I've been living under these conditions with my mother until she passed away last August," he said. The water leaks through the floor and the walls.
Another resident, Xolani Sandi, has lived in the area for the past eight years and said whenever heavy rains fell, his family's house got flooded.
When Grocott's Mail entered the house, there was not a dry spot and all the appliances and furniture were floating in ankle-deep water.
"This house started to flood last week and I used basins and buckets, as you see. But today I also went to the [Makana] fire department, where I was given a sheet of heavy duty plastic to cover the most vulnerable parts of the wall and roof," Sandi said.
The heavy rains also destroyed several shacks in eThembeni informal settlement in Extension 7 on Thursday, with residents frantically scooping bucketloads of water out of their homes.
When Grocott's Mail visited the area Nomanase Yekiso, a pensioner who lives alone in a shack, was desperately trying to get the rainwater out of her flooded shack.
“I don't know what to do any more,” said Yekiso. “When is the rain going to stop?,” she asked.
Another resident, Thandiswa Nobhongwana, 39, said she'd had to take her three children to her mother's home, because her shack was destroyed in the downpour.
“I don't have any alternative, and I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight,” she said. She said the floods had destroyed her furniture and other belongings.
“In a desperate attempt to keep the rain out, I have put corrugated iron sheets around my shack, but this still does not stop the house from flooding,” she said. “I tried to save what I could,’’ said Nobhongwana.
Jack Pati, 79, who lives with his wife and five children, was woken up with a crash, as one of the walls of their home collapsed.
The situation was even worse for Nosakhele Kasper, 42, who lives with her three children, including her 22-year-old disabled son. She said the rain had destroyed everything – even their food.
Ward 11 councillor, Mncedisi Gojela, told Groccott's Mail that the area committee was still assessing the area and would consider relocating people who had been left homeless by the floods.
“At the moment we are supplying the residents with plastic sheeting to cover their shelters, and we will ask the Makana Fire department to come and help them drain the water in the affected houses,” said Gojela.
Ward committee chairperson, Nqapa Mnyanda said several houses had been damaged and the matter needed urgent attention.
"The people here live under depressing conditions, and the situation has been like this for a long time,” said Mnyanda.
“We have relocated some of the residents and have taken them to their relatives. But some refused to be relocated, for fear their belongings would be stolen,” he said.
