Residents of the flooded Kosovo informal settlement say they fear an outbreak of disease as they now have live amid pools of stagnant water and heaps of uncollected garbage.
The heavy rains over the weekend resulted in the area being flooded, leaving 1,500 people displaced, said ward councillor Monwabisi Mbaliswano.
On Monday, when the Cape Argus visited the area, children played in stagnant water and among the uncollected rubbish.
Most residents were scooping water out of their shacks, while others were repairing their rain-battered dwellings.
"In this area we have a problem with diseases such as tuberculosis and if they (the city) don't collect the filth, they put us and our children in danger," said one resident who declined to be named.
She added that the people of Kosovo were "sick and tired of living a miserable life".
Many of them said they had received food and blankets from the city on Sunday.
The residents said they resented being sent into community halls whenever their shacks became waterlogged.
"It's useless. One day we are in a hall and the next we are back in our shacks. That is not a remedy for our problems. It's better we stay with friends or in the flooded shacks.
"When we voted this government into power, we thought they would take care of our needs.
"Now they give us food and blankets, what we want is to be resettled elsewhere and be given houses," said another angry resident who declined to be named.
Ivan Bromfield, acting executive director of city health, said flooding brings water-borne diseases and it was important that residents practise basic hygiene such as staying away from stagnant water and keeping their children away.
"As the city, we will be monitoring the situation in the flooding areas," he said.
- Cape Argus
The heavy rains over the weekend resulted in the area being flooded, leaving 1,500 people displaced, said ward councillor Monwabisi Mbaliswano.
On Monday, when the Cape Argus visited the area, children played in stagnant water and among the uncollected rubbish.
Most residents were scooping water out of their shacks, while others were repairing their rain-battered dwellings.
"In this area we have a problem with diseases such as tuberculosis and if they (the city) don't collect the filth, they put us and our children in danger," said one resident who declined to be named.
She added that the people of Kosovo were "sick and tired of living a miserable life".
Many of them said they had received food and blankets from the city on Sunday.
The residents said they resented being sent into community halls whenever their shacks became waterlogged.
"It's useless. One day we are in a hall and the next we are back in our shacks. That is not a remedy for our problems. It's better we stay with friends or in the flooded shacks.
"When we voted this government into power, we thought they would take care of our needs.
"Now they give us food and blankets, what we want is to be resettled elsewhere and be given houses," said another angry resident who declined to be named.
Ivan Bromfield, acting executive director of city health, said flooding brings water-borne diseases and it was important that residents practise basic hygiene such as staying away from stagnant water and keeping their children away.
"As the city, we will be monitoring the situation in the flooding areas," he said.
- Cape Argus
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