People living below flood level in WC is a ticking time bomb: Hlabisa

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Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Velenkosini Hlabisa says the declaration of a disaster in the Western Cape means that all resources must be pooled for the rapid response to last week’s devastating storms.

Visiting affected areas, Hlabisa also says an all of government approach is needed, together with community leaders and political parties to dissuade people from settling in areas which are not suitable for habitation.

Assessing the various informal areas which bore the brunt of the stormy weather, Hlabisa says with the reality of climate change, all three spheres of government must co-operate. He’s described the situation as a ticking time bomb.

“In the first place we went to people who have settled over that area, it is not a conducive area for human settlement because it is below the [flood] level and obviously, we are living in the times of climate change. There will always be a problem of water causing floods in that particular area. It will need engagement, persuasion as I indicated in the morning during the briefing, that we would need a political interference in terms of solving these complex problems. And obviously the government will have to be persuaded to look at the options of making funds available.”

Provincial authorities say it will still take a few days to determine the extent of the damage.

This as numerous roads are still under water, many people displaced, and some areas still cut off. While the biggest number of people displaced is in the Metro, several districts are also battling.

“If I think about the Weskus, there’s still a lot of places that are cut off, there are lots of parts of the province where helicopters are being used, boats are being used to get food relief to people. So, we are actually still in the middle of this disaster, it’s still being dealt with every single day,” says Western Cae Premier Alan Winde.

With nearly 160 000 people affected in Cape Town, and over 47 000 structures impacted, city authorities have also welcomed the declaration.

It however says the Prevention of Illegal Evictions Act needs to be reviewed to prevent informal settlements from being erected in unsuitable areas.

“Cabinet must now review that Act because that is how we are going to legally stop individuals from invading and occupying spaces that they shouldn’t be. Whether its MMC [Carl] Pophaim, whether its Minister Hlabisa, President [Cyril] Ramaphosa, no services can be delivered in those spaces so people should not be there in the first place. Secondly and as our bylaw already allows us to do political leaders, community leaders and sectoral leaders who encourage invasions and occupations of those spaces must be jailed. They are threatening people’s lives and livelihoods, and it cannot be that they use political grandstanding or issue-driving and affect real people’s lives at the end of the day,” says Pophaim.

Pophaim says the city wants to use the disaster declaration to identify Category C informal settlements in low-lying and flood prone areas with the aim of major relocations.