Kouga Flood Victims Accuse Municipality of Abandoning Them

• Hundreds of residents whose homes were damaged by flooding across the Kouga Local Municipality earlier this month took shelter at community halls.
• But now they are being told to leave, and they say they have received little to no other support from the municipality.
• At a Special Council Meeting on 14 May, the municipality requested the Sarah Baartman District Municipality declare the floods a local state of disaster.
• It estimates the damages to be about R170-million.

Hundreds of people whose homes were damaged by recent flooding across the Kouga Local Municipality sought shelter at community halls. But days after the disaster, most have been made to vacate the halls.

Between 5 and 11 May, storms and flooding destroyed homes, bridges, power lines, roads, and other infrastructure. In some areas, more than 100mm of rain fell within a short period, overwhelming stormwater systems and causing rivers to burst their banks.

Among the hardest-hit communities were Hankey, Patensie, Loerie, Thornhill, Gamtoos Mouth, Sea Vista, Oyster Bay, Humansdorp and parts of Jeffreys Bay, where homes and informal structures flooded, forcing families to flee to temporary shelters and community halls.

The municipality estimates the cost of the damage will be about R170-million. This was revealed at a Special Council Meeting on 14 May, where an application was submitted to the Sarah Baartman District Municipality to declare the floods a local state of disaster.

“Disasters have negatively affected the livelihoods of communities, damaged infrastructure, and destabilised service delivery. Flash floods are occurring and destabilising the livelihoods of vulnerable communities,” the council stated in its application.

We visited the Sea Vista community hall on 14 May where about 28 people, including a baby, had been staying for a week. Last weekend, most of them had to vacate the hall.

Michael Xayimpi slept in the hall for a week after his shack was badly damaged.

“Everything was swept away. I am unemployed, so I don’t know where to go from this hall. I don’t even have food to eat. I hope the government will assist us,” Xayimpi said.

Virginia Nqabakazi, who has two young children, told GroundUp that everything in her two-roomed shack, including furniture she had saved up to buy, had been damaged by floodwater.

“I am just desperate for assistance,” she said.

Ward 1 councillor Nozuko Ntshota said she had to seek assistance from local businesses after the municipality only provided ten mattresses and ten blankets for 28 people.

“Most residents chose to sleep at their homes to guard the little they managed to salvage from flooding. The hall is cold,” she said.

Resident Zikhona Solomon’s home in Lower Golf Course informal settlement in Humansdorp was flooded and covered with raw sewage after the toilets near her home overflowed. She has been living with a family member since last week.

Ntshota said residents were eventually helped by an organisation called Masikhathalelaneni, which donated 18 mattresses, as well as blankets and food.

Freddie van Rooyen of Masikhathalelaneni said the organisation had partnered with the Amandla Omoya Trust to help the flood victims. He said they donated a total of about 200 mattresses and blankets.

“People are desperate for assistance. You can see the pain and anguish on their faces. There were several hungry children shivering from the cold. Their mothers were desperate and wearing wet clothes. We had to feed them, give them warm clothing,” Van Rooyen said.

According to ward 10 councillor Msingathi Mbandana, informal settlements in Gamtoos were among the worst affected by the floods. He said they had only received a few mattresses for more than 200 people in public shelters.

Mayor Hattingh Bornman said that emergency teams were deployed to support residents through relief coordination, infrastructure assessments and emergency assistance in affected areas. He denied the claims that the municipality did not provide blankets and mattresses.

On the state of disaster, Bornman said the municipality is still waiting for the outcome of their request.

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