Human Settlements
(1) (a) What is the (i) number and (ii) details of informal settlements that were negatively affected by the recent storms that hit the province in July and (b) what is the number of residents who were affected by the storms, including those whose homes were flooded;
(2) whether his Department provided any assistance to the residents in informal settlements who were affected by the storms; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether he visited any of the affected informal settlements; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1)(a)(i)(ii)(b) During the recent storms that hit our Province throughout the month of July, most incidents of flooding reported within informal settlements occurred within the Metro area. The City of Cape Town responded by providing and distributing emergency materials to roughly 2820 dwellings across various informal settlements. These areas included: Athlone, Browns Farm, Crossroads, Delft, Edomeni, Eersteriver, Green Park, Gugulethu, Kalkfontein, Ottery, Overcome Heights, Philippi, Ravensmead, Redhill, Strandfontein, Sunbird Park, Uitsig, and Village Heights.
Within the non-metro areas, most municipalities reported no serious flooding incidents, apart from the normal leaking of structures and roofs of specific informal dwellings. Isolated incidents of flooding did occur in low-lying areas and were reported on.
Some of these informal settlements include:
1. Drommedaris in Mbekweni and Loverslane in Paarl East, both in Drakenstein Municipality;
2. Langrug in Franschoek, Stellenbosch Municipality;
3. Kyasa in Vredendal, Matzikama Municipality; and
4. Middelpos in Saldanha, Saldanha Bay Municipality.
It should be noted that each municipality has a dedicated Disaster Management Service that responds to service requests related to disaster/flooding and depending on the situation and need, will clean storm water drains, and provide tents, matrasses, blankets, plastic sails and bags.
(2) It is the mandate of each individual municipality to respond to reported incidents of flooding in informal settlements within their jurisdiction. Each municipality therefore has a dedicated Disaster Response Unit which responds to incidents. However, my department is providing support to municipalities across the province through its established regional structures, ensuring that human settlements need of the province are addressed and prioritised.
(3) When flooding occurs, the need for assistance is flagged by municipalities and brought to the attention of departmental representatives and regional directors, who represent my Department and myself, the Minister of Human Settlements, in their official capacity. My department then follows up with municipalities with the necessary support needed.
