“I almost lost my grandchild. I almost lost my life,” says Abraham Douglas, a farm worker at Kleinberg farm in De Doorns.
At 3.30am on 12 May, Douglas and his six-year old grandchild had to climb onto the roof of their house to escape flood waters when storms battered the Western Cape last week.
When they felt the structure shifting beneath them, they had to get to another roof. They sat there for over an hour in the dark, waiting for help to arrive.
“The water was so high no one could get to us,” says Douglas.
Using a rope thrown to them, and with his grandchild on his back, they were eventually able to move through the water to safety.
Four farm worker families lost their homes on Kleinberg farm in De Doornson in floods during the storms that hit the Western Cape last week.
The flood destroyed the homes of four families on the farm. Some farm workers’ houses were partly washed away, and some collapsed. Family belongings were scattered in the mud. Inside the homes, the floors were left caked with mud.
Over 2,200 people were displaced in the Cape Winelands by the storm weather, according to the district municipality.
Garnet Erasmus, who works at Kleinberg, said they had tried to redirect the water flowing into their backyards, but the pressure became too strong. They eventually moved to the crèche, where it seemed safer.
Some residents are sleeping in the nearby crèche.
On Wednesday, they returned to their homes.
“We didn’t realise the damage was this bad,” said Erasmus. “It was a shock.”
He said it was the first time he had experienced anything like this in the 40 years he’d been there.
“We are all very close to one another here. The community has been rocked by this,” he said.
Abraham Douglas and his grandchild climbed onto their roof and had to be rescued during the storm.
We met Alida Fonk, a farm worker at Kleinberg, salvaging what she could from her destroyed home.
“We were fortunately out of here early, otherwise we would’ve all been dead,” she said.
“I am very sad about my furniture, my groceries, and new clothes for the children, which I got last week with their prices still on, which is covered in mud,” she said.
Fonk said they were grateful that other people on the farm came to evacuate them and “helped them to safety”. Some of the elderly had to be carried out of their homes because the water was at that stage already quite high.
The storm has displaced over 2,200 people in the Cape Winelands.
The Kleinberg farm workers are uncertain about their future and whether they will be able to move back into their homes and rebuild them. Currently, they are living in the crèche on the farm and have received help from Gift of the Givers.
Back at his home, Douglas has started shovelling mud out of his house. He has also been trying to get his racing pigeons back into their cage.
“I opened the cage for them during the night but I lost many of them…They are also traumatised. They had to flee in the darkness too.”
“We must start everything all over again,” he said.
During the storm, the nearby river burst its banks and flooded the farm workers’ homes and the vineyards.
Video: Ashraf Hendricks
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Lack of recreational facilities: Limited access to parks, sports fields, and other recreational spaces.
Force
Fun South African Fact: South African Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. The groundbreaking surgery was carried out on Louis Washkansky and Dr. Barnard was assisted by a large and exceptional team of surgeons, nurses and technicians. One of Dr. Barnard’s assistants was Hamilton Naki, a black laboratory assistant who had worked previously as a gardener and went on to work in the animal laboratory at the University of Cape Town. He had assisted Dr Barnard with research leading to the transplant. In the apartheid days, Naki had no access to higher education due to his race. Despite being unable to access formal training, he learned from and assisted university researchers and went on to do unbelievable work.
Digital Moonshine
The cab driver feels compelled to flesh the story out, as its just the husband he\’s talking to.
\”yeah I remember that last shore leave in Johannesburg, me and the lads gagging for some action, end up in a dive bar and met this girl, we got a room and she was the the worst fuck I\’ve ever had!\”
The wife says \”what did he say?\”.
Husband \”the cab driver he says he might know you!\”