Residents of Dunoon’s shanty towns are still reeling from the rains that flooded their homes on Sunday and Monday.
The rain started on Sunday evening and carried on until late in the evening on Monday. It caused havoc in the Ekuphumleni, Siyahlala and Zwezwe settlements as well as elsewhere across the city.
Athi Khanki, who lives in Siyahlala, said her shack had been flooded when she got up for work on Monday morning.
“I could barely sleep on Sunday night. The rain was so loud and non-stop. It was irritating me because I had to get up for work the next morning because unfortunately in my job I have to still work on a public holiday.
“The way my house looked when I woke up, I had to call in sick. The water inside my home was above my ankles, and I just sat there thinking this is going to be one long day. I wasn’t the only one with this issue. Many of my neighbours were complaining too.”
Luxolo Vena, from Zwezwe, said he and his neighbours had worked all Sunday evening building barricades to stop their homes being deluged.
“I was so mad! We were getting rained on and getting tired. This shouldn’t be a way to live. I know there will be those that always question why we built our shacks here, but those people don’t know how it is to struggle.
“I came from the Eastern Cape a few years ago and wanted a better life. Of course this is not what I had envisioned my life would be like. However, I came to Cape Town to make money to send back home to my family.”
Posting on the Zwezwe Facebook page, Veliswa Mbethe said: “I don’t know whether it is worth it anymore to stay here in Cape Town in general. There are just so many issues we have to deal with. These floods are just one of the issues, and I can’t risk my daughter’s life staying here. Who knows whether we might survive another one of these disasters.”
In a statement, City disaster risk management spokeswoman Charlotte Powell said eight people had been electrocuted during flooding due to illegal electricity connections in other areas such as Driftsands and Klipfontein.
The City did not respond by deadline to Tabletalk’s questions about flooding in Dunoon.
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