Areas affected by floods grow

By Anele Siwa and Rhodé Marshall
30 July 2007

Floods have affected more than 38 000 people from 49 areas in Cape Town from 49 areas in Cape Town with floods on the West Coast and the Overberg as well.

“We have approximately 17 areas in informal settlements and 17 from formal areas that have been affected by the floods,” says Disaster Management spokesperson Johan Minnie.

“We are providing meals to about 24 000 people from these areas”, says Minnie.

Meanwhile, a mass meeting on complaints about disaster services’ response to flooding will be held in Gugulethu tonight with residents of the Lotus informal settlements in Gugulethu.

The meeting, organised by the South African Communist Party (SACP) came after the SACP received several complaints from residents affected by the recent floods that hit the city of Cape Town.

Minnie says that the City of Cape Town visited the area on Sunday and that they have been supportive to the families who have been affected by the floods.

“With advanced weather warning systems that the City has, how could emergency services fail the poor like it has in Gugulethu,” says SACP Cape Town District Organiser, Luthando Nogcinisa.

He added that they want to appeal to the mayor to ensure that all communities affected by the floods receive adequate temporary shelter, food, sanitation, water and health services.

The Gugulethu meeting will be followed by another mass meeting in Site C, Khayelitsha later in the week.