Residents living in newly established informal settlements have been hit hard by flooding, and some have sought help from families and relatives.
More than 10 000 families erected shacks on open public and privately-owned land after the coronavirus pandemic left many people without jobs and income.
Faced with economic hardship and desperate to have a roof over their heads, most people unlawfully occupied land in a city faced with insufficient availability of housing and overcrowding in most townships.
The winter rains have flooded the shacks and streets of Covid and Sanitiser informal settlements at the Driftsands Nature Reserve, and residents have now called for humanitarian aid.
One of the Covid informal settlement residents, Siphesande Kwangi, abandoned her shack after she and her family found themselves knee-deep in water.
"We woke up one morning and found the front part of the house flooded. The water was coming from the direction of the street as there's no leak. My husband and I took what we could to my sister's, who has not been affected.
"But some of my goods, such as a cupboard, TV set and bed were damaged," Kwangi said.
Outside her house, residents had used bags of sand and rubble to try and contain the water to the street and to prevent it from affecting other houses.
But a fridge standing in a pool of water was an indication that they had failed in their attempts to keep the shack from flooding.
Owner Lusindiso Ngwele moved his shack a few meters away to save the rest of his belongings from being damaged.
"I will continue to search for a better spot as I have nowhere else to go. I am not moving from this area," Ngwele added.
Community leader Luthando Mncuntula said most of the residents in Covid had built the shacks on the land, which is mostly wetlands, because they had no alternatives.
"Covid -19 hit us hard. Some of us lost jobs and could no longer afford to pay rent. Others had been living as backyarders, and landlords would have none of the stories of rent payment holidays. We had no idea that this area would be flooded in winter rains. But now that we are here, we are faced with these serious challenges. We have approached several companies for help," Mncuntula said.
He feared for an outbreak of disease as children played in the pools of water.
"We are appealing for any humanitarian aid. We don't have access to clean running water and toilets. Some of the residents have resorted to illegal electricity connections. If a disaster would occur here, it would affect all of us", Mncuntula added.
Nearby, in Sanitiser informal settlement, some of the shacks were also waterlogged.
Community leader, Mzanezulu Skhaftini, said residents welcomed trucks that offloaded rubble on the waterlogged street and in between the shacks.
"There's nothing we can do. Where else can we go if we move from this area? I used to pay high rent, and I lost my job last year as a result of Covid-19", he said.
Communities have been asking for access to land as the housing need rises.
In 2019, the Western Cape provincial housing backlog stood at over 600 000 families, of which, 365 000 were in the City of Cape Town alone.
"We've now seen and been affected by the economic hardship. We feel defeated, and we need places to stay as we have families," Skhaftini said.
According to the spokesperson for the provincial MEC for Local Government, James-Brent Styan, the area which the people moved into was part of the stormwater detention infrastructure protecting Mfuleni and surrounds.
People have moved into a “very dangerous, flood-prone area”.
Styan said steps were being taken in terms of disaster risk intervention, “recognising that those who have chosen to unlawfully settle in and around the Kuils River Detention Dam put themselves in real danger of loss of life”.
He said an offer was made by the Western Cape Government on May 5 via the community leaders that transport would be available to those who wished to willingly relocate to more suitable land.
However, to date, the offer, which was valid for the high-risk winter period only, had not solicited any response, according to Styan.
The City of Cape Town said mopping up operations were in place across the worst affected areas, including informal settlements in Khayelitsha, Philippi and Strand.
Spokesperson for City Disaster Management Charlotte Powell said it would continue assessments and was collaborating with Sassa to provide soft relief such as meals and blankets to identified priority areas.
None of the families in Covid and Sanitiser had received any relief.
City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said low-lying settlements were the most affected and continued to be waterlogged due to the high water tables and continued rainfall.
He said City teams had provided more than 2 500 flood assistance packets, materials and other support "where it has been possible to do so".
"The biggest challenge can be seen with most of the newly unlawfully occupied areas where some large settlements have formed on extremely waterlogged land, such as in dams and ponds and wetlands where flood materials are of no use due to the depth of the flooding. Many of the older, existing areas that were deemed high risk prior to the start of the winter rainfall, where mitigation measures could be implemented, have been spared from the worst of the flooding. However, low-lying areas, in general, have been affected," he added.
However, a list of those areas that benefited was not provided.
Mayoral committee member for water Xanthea Limberg said the directorate only provided water to communities who "were unlawfully established" prior to the pandemic.
Limberg said Covid and Sanitiser communities did not have access to normal services because they had unlawfully occupied land where there were "technical or legal constraints" to development.