The city's tale of two fires

Bo-Kaap residents accused of torching shacks

Cape Town - About 60 shack dwellers living in the Bo-Kaap have been left destitute after their 12 shacks were torched last week, and they suspect unhappy local residents of being behind the fire.

Tensions are rising in the area, with angry residents accusing the shack dwellers of introducing a scourge of crime and drugs to the area.

The group of homeless people are now squatting under a tree on a street corner.

Bo-Kaap Civic chairman Osman Shaboodien said he had heard rumours of an arson attack, among other possible causes, for the fire that swept through the Farm, but there was no certainty.

“There’s nothing confirmed, and there’s no traces of a petrol bomb,” Shaboodien said.

“I don’t think members of the community would stoop to such a level. It’s inhumane.”

The area of land is known as the Farm, and was previously a military base along Military Road, which leads up to the Noon Day Gun. The land belongs to the Department of Public Works.

Hazel Maphomey had lived on the Farm for seven years before her shack was gutted.

“The police confirmed a petrol bomb was involved. We know people don’t want us here.”

She appealed to the Bo-Kaap residents: “Please understand what we’re going through, and just have a heart. All I want is for the community around us to bear with us. We have nowhere else to go.”

But Bo-Kaap residents meeting police, Neighbourhood Watch and ward councillor Dave Bryant on Monday night said the “squatters” had caused a scourge of crime, violence and drugs in the area, and they felt threatened in their homes and feared for the safety of their children.

“Everybody in this community is scared,” said one woman.

“I live on that corner and they are constantly targeting me.”

A man added: “They jump over the walls and washing disappears off lines.”

Another said: “They are selling drugs and poisoning our children.”

But Rose Hendricks, who has lived on the Farm for six years, said many of the people living there were not criminals.

“They tried to kill innocent people,” she said.

“Not all of us are doing drugs here.”

Hendricks burst into tears when she thought about her kitten that died in the fire.

“She was only two months old. I don’t have children, I only had that cat. I loved that cat.”

Edward Abrahams has lived in the Bo-Kaap for 50 years, and said the squatters had made life hell for residents.

“These people are not supposed to be here,” he said.

“A lot of criminals have come over from The Kraal, and drug users come up from the Parade. Our life is one big hell here.”

Abrahams said a tourist was mugged there just days earlier, in the area surrounding Signal Hill and the Noon Day Gun.

“How’s it going to affect tourism when people can’t even go up there in safety?”

The Bo-Kaap residents decided to reconvene in two weeks, when they hope Public Works will be present at the meeting.

chelsea.geach@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Boy killed, 300 homeless after fires

Cape Town - A seven-year-old boy was killed and close to 300 people were left displaced in separate shack fires over the weekend.

Brian Olifant, 7, was killed when a fire broke out, destroying four shacks in Wallacedene.

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the fiire broke out on Sunday at around 10am.

Solomons-Johannes said a community worker had said Brian was the second child in the family to be killed in a fire.

Community workers said they suspected the fire was ignited by a child playing with matches. However, city fire and rescue spokesman Theo Layne said investigators at the scene found that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

Solomons-Johannes said 10 other people were displaced as a result of the fire.

In another incident, 67 shacks were destroyed in a blaze and 270 people were left homeless at the Ekuphumleni informal settlement in Dunoon near Milnerton. The fire broke out on Sunday around 11am.

Layne said it was suspected that it was caused by a cigarette left unattended.

“The cigarette ignited (clothing) which spread to the rest of the shack.”

Solomons-Johannes said no injuries were reported and a community centre in the area was used as an emergency shelter. He said humanitarian relief was arranged and building materials had been delivered.

Layne warned people to be careful when using cooking with fire at this time of the year, especially in informal settlements.

“We find that fires are mostly started by these braais, and what is worse is that people sometimes cannot extinguish the fires properly.”

He said that although there had not been many shack fires during the festive season, his department had received more than 100 reports of vegetation fires.

“Fires happen all the time in open fields; sometimes we find that it was a cigarette butt thrown out the window of a car, or someone walking through the fields.

“Also we found that a lot of malicious vegetation fires are started by children playing with matches.”

In the past few weeks, firefighting crews have been stretched due to the large vegetation fires caused by dry, sunny weather and New Year’s Eve celebrations.

On New Year’s Eve two large vegetation fires broke out and several small fires ignited in the Cape Flats.

Layne reported that the first day of the new year was chaotic.

In Noordhoek, two helicopters were called in to water bomb a vegetation fire. Layne said conventional vehicles were unable to reach the fire.

On the same day another large fire broke out in Ocean View and teams of firefighters, along with two helicopters, were called to the scene.

Both fires were suspected to have been caused by firecrackers.

- Cape Argus

President has a fire pool - Fuck the rest!

Party leaders, including Zuma and Ramaphosa, will start mobilising support for their rally tomorrow. The ANC uses the annual January 8 founding celebrations to outline its programme for the year in a speech delivered by the party’s incumbent president.

Zuma is expected to do walk-abouts and attend public meetings in various townships around Cape Town, including Langa, Nyanga and Mitchells Plain.

In Cape Town Zuma will be joined by 80 national executive committee members and ministers Nomvula Mokonyane and Derek Hanekom. Ramaphosa is also expected to hit the townships, but his schedule also includes door-to-door visits and mobilising campaign at taxi ranks and train stations.

“There were a lot of by-laws that we had to comply with, and we did. At first it was clear there were signs of frustration with us hosting the celebrations here. We are past those things now and we are ready for the business that has brought us here,” said Kodwa.

He said all political parties were looking to strengthen their bases, but that the weekend event had nothing do with campaigning.

- Sunday Independent

Seven year old boy killed in Western Cape shack fire

A seven year old boy was killed on Sunday when a fire tore through four shacks in Wallacedene, the Cape Town disaster management said.

Ten other people were left homeless as a result, spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said in a statement.

In a separate incident, 270 people were displaced when a fire destroyed 67 shacks in Ekuphumleni informal settlement at Du Noon near Milnerton, he said.

No injuries were reported. Provision of humanitarian relief aid was being arranged.

Building materials would be provided to the affected households on Monday by the human settlements department, Solomons-Johannes said.

A community centre in the area would be used as an emergency shelter for those affected.

- Timeslive

SHACK FIRES: 150 CAPETONIANS SPEND CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SHELTER

Blazes gutted informal dwellings in the Cape last night & in the early hours of this morning.

CAPE TOWN - About 150 Capetonians are spending Christmas day without shelter after their informal dwellings were gutted by fires last night and in the early hours of Christmas morning.

A total of 39 shacks and a house has been gutted in areas including Philippi, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu.

City of Cape Town disaster risk management's Wilfred Solomon’s-Johannes says, Disaster response teams have been deployed at first light this morning to provide the necessary aid to the victims that lost everything in the fires.”

He says an investigation into the cause of the fires is underway.

The city's Fire and Rescue Services says it has a full complement of fire fighters to deal with blazes across the peninsula.

Strong winds and faulty electrical equipment are some of the main causes of fires.

The city's Theo Lane says human error is to blame in many cases.

“We have seasonal firefighters about 120 of them. We have the recruits that have just finished training then we have the reserve firefighters, 19 of them, and they will be deployed to various fire stations.”

At the same time in the Eastern Cape, four boys have died after the hut they were sleeping in burnt down in Willow Vale.

They boys, aged between 14 and 17 apparently made a fire before falling asleep.

No foul play is suspected.

The Police's Jackson Manatha says, “At this point in time, the police are not suspecting any foul play and have opened an inquest docket for further investigation.”

- EWN

CTN fires leave hundreds homeless

A total of 118 people have been left homeless after 30 shacks burned down in various parts of Cape Town, the City's Disaster Operations Centre said on Saturday.

“No injuries were reported,” said the Centre's acting head Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

In the most devastating of the five fires that had broken out since Friday night, 80 people were displaced and 20 shacks were destroyed when a fire broke out at the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement in Hout Bay.

In Ravensmead, two adults and a child were left homeless after their backyard dwelling was destroyed in a fire, while in Khayelitsha, another shack burnt down, leaving two people displaced.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, two fires broke out: one in Fizantekraal and the other in Kraaifontein.

Eighteen people were left displaced in the Fizantekraal fire that destroyed six shacks.

In Kraaifontein, 15 people lost their homes after two shacks were burned down.

Solomons-Johannes said those affected were receiving food, clothing, toiletries blankets and building materials.

“The cause of these fires is undetermined at this stage,” he said, adding an investigation would, however, take place. - Sapa

Two girls die in shack blaze

Cape Town - Two little girls burnt to death after they were trapped inside their burning shack early on Tuesday morning.

Lithabo, 2, and Kwakhanya, 5, were fast asleep in their Philippi East home when the fire broke out.

Their mother, Vuyokazi Gcilitshane, managed to escape. She ran for help, screaming: “The children are inside.”

Gcilitshane was taken to hospital with burns, according to City of Cape Town fire chief Theo Layne.

Her neighbour, Douglas Gungqisa, was home on Tuesday morning to recount the horrifying night.

Gungqisa owns the formal house and property on which the backyard shack was built. The Gcilitshane family had lived there since last year.

“I was woken at 1am by a woman who came running to tell me the shack is on fire,” he said. “I jumped up and ran. I was so confused. Then we went to fetch water in buckets to throw on the fire.”

Gungqisa said the blaze only grew as they poured water over it, as if the water was paraffin.

“I heard the screams of the mother saying the children are in there,” he said. “The mother couldn’t say what caused the fire, she was just crying. All she could say was ‘the children are inside’.”

Soon community members came to help, and a security van called the fire brigade.

When the neighbours managed to put out the flames, they set about searching for the girls.

“We didn’t hear the screams of the children,” Gungqisa said. “It was just quiet.”

He found their charred bodies under a sheet of collapsed corrugated sheeting.

On Tuesday morning, the blackened site was home only to twisted metal, burnt plates and the soggy remains of a tiny girls’ T-shirts and pink shoes.

Gungqisa’s house in Apile Crescent was slightly damaged by smoke, but not burnt.

Layne said that a man had died in a separate fire last night. “There was also a fire in Kosovo informal settlement. One adult male sustained fatal burns.”

The cause of both fires was not known and details were unclear as formal reports had not yet been filed on Tuesday morning.

- Cape Argus

Dunoon hit by sixth blaze this year

Cape Town - For the sixth time this year 160 residents of Dunoon, near Milnerton, watched in despair as a fire devastated the informal settlement - reducing all their possessions to ash and prompting the community to initiate a contingency plan.

The residents were among about 400 people who were displaced following fires in seven informal settlements across the peninsula at the weekend.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, mother-of-three Tokoza Xamlashe was woken by a cry for help as a fast-moving fire headed in her direction. “I woke my children, grabbed the baby and ran. There was no way that I was able to stop that fire. It was big and spreading very fast,” said Xamlashe.

“We rebuild, then lose our belongings. So the cycle continues. It is heartbreaking and terrible, especially because I know I am not responsible.”

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said the cause was unknown.

At a meeting on Sunday, community leaders implored residents to be more careful about leaving fires unattended.

According to community leader Thembinkosi Janda, residents were considering establishing a night patrol to check whether residents had properly extinguished fires before they went to sleep.

“We will have meetings. The selected group will be responsible for ensuring that people kill their fires properly and report to me anyone who has fallen asleep with their candles still lit. This needs to end,” said Janda.

Residents of the informal settlement did not have access to electricity.

Janda said they had been occupying the land illegally for the past six years because there was no other place to stay.

Solomons-Johannes said the fire was one of eight at the weekend. On Saturday night, 63 people were displaced when fires swept through Masiphumelele, Philippi, Strand and Khayelitsha.

On Friday night, 118 people from Kanana informal settlement in Gugulethu and 41 people from Joe Slovo also lost their homes in shack fires.

Solomons-Johannes said on Sunday the causes of the fires were not yet known.

In another incident in Elsies River on Friday night, a 58-year-old woman died during a fire, leaving a male occupant displaced.

The cause of that fire was also being investigated.

francesca.villette@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Over 150 people displaced in Cape Town fire

Over 100 people were displaced on Sunday, when a fire ravaged shacks in Du Noon, the city of Cape Town.

"It happened in the early hours of this morning. Thirty-eight shacks were burnt, 152 [people] were displaced," said spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

No injuries or fatalities were reported.

Many of the shacks had been rebuilt by Sunday afternoon, he said.

- SAPA

Aftermath of a Shack Fire

With summer heat and seasonal gale force southeaster winds, it is a time of high risk for shack fires. There were 123 fires in the past month in informal settlements in the Western Cape. This December, load shedding may well be adding to that risk. GroundUp visited a family in the aftermath of a recent shack fire to see how they are coping.

In a fire on the weekend of 29 November in Barcelona, Gugulethu, Sindiswa Swapi lost everything.

At about 4:30pm, Swapi said she was woken by three of her neighbors, shouting to her to open her door.

"I took my children out of the shack to safety and ran to see what was happening. I saw people throwing water at my neighbor's house and trying to kick a door open. By the time the door was opened, half of the house was burnt, affecting other houses," said Swapi.

A lady known as Nomampondo said that some people in the community believe the cause of the fire was a stove that was left switched on.

"We think that the owner of the shack where the fire started left his stove switched on or did not realize that the stove was on because there was load shedding in the area ... [Shortly] after the electricity came back on, the fire started."

"We do not blame Eskom, but I think that Eskom should give us notices about times of load shedding, because sometimes when the electricity just goes off, we get upset and forget about safety precautions," said Nomampondo.

Eskom does give notice of planned power cuts, but as GroundUp previously reported, some communities struggle to get the information.

Nomampondo says that the owner of the shack ran away after what happened and they haven't seen him since.

According to Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, acting head of the Disaster Operations Centre in the Western Cape, faulty electrical equipment was the suspected cause of the Barcelona fire.

Solomons-Johannes said the City's disaster response team assisted the fire victims with food parcels, clothing, blankets, toiletries and building materials.

Seven shacks were destroyed by the fire and 28 people left homeless.

Swapi, her three children and husband are now staying in a neighbour's one-bedroomed shack.

"My neighbour offered my family a place to stay even though she and her family of four are already staying in the shack. My family and I are sleeping on the floor. We eat food parcels that were given to us by disaster management."

"I am hurt because I not only lost everything, but my two two-week old puppies were burnt to death and we couldn't help them," says Swapi.

Her surviving dogs and puppies are now homeless.

Swapi said that she doesn't have anything to wear; her children's school books were burnt, including their school uniforms, clothes and birth certificates. She feels helpless; she had just bought her children summer clothes for the December holiday before the fire destroyed everything.

All that remains of the neighbour's house where the fire started. Photo by Pharie Sefali.

"My husband is the only one working at home ... He doesn't know how we are going to survive for the month because we have to buy beds and other furniture and still have to think of the children's school uniforms for next year amongst other things," says Swapi.

Sibulele Swapi, who is 13 and in grade six, says he is glad that none of his family members were burnt, but he is sad he is not going to enjoy his holiday like other children; there won't be any money to buy Christmas goodies.

Other families are also staying at their neighbours until they rebuild.

Charlotte Powell, portfolio Head of Public Awareness and Preparedness at the Disaster Risk Management Centre, says the fire season is normally the summer months ranging from early October to late March every year.

"This is a high risk time when the southeaster blows at gale force strength and temperatures are high. Once uncontrolled fire is started, the combination of strong winds and dry vegetation makes it extremely difficult to control, especially in mountainous areas where access is difficult", says Powell.

According to fire and rescue services in the Western Cape, between 1 November and 2 December, 2216 fire responses were recorded of which 397 were structures on fire; 123 of those were in informal settlements with nine fatalities and 406 informal dwelling units burned down.

According to Ian Schnetler Chief Fire Officer, the shack fires (123) and fatality (nine) figures for this year and last year were exactly the same, but 81 less homes were destroyed.

- allAfrica

Seven dead in Cape fires this month

Cape Town - Seven people died and 900 others were affected in over 1000 fires in Cape Town since the beginning of November, the city said on Thursday.

“More than half of the incidents involved informal structures, resulting in the destruction of nearly 300 homes,” mayoral committee member Alderman JP Smith said in a statement.

Of the more than 1000 fires in the city in the first two and a half weeks of November, 956 were vegetation fires and 121 were structural fires.

“That is more than double the number of vegetation fires reported during the same period last November,” said Smith.

On Wednesday, three fire engines, two helicopters and 25 ground crew worked towards extinguishing a fire on a mountain above Glencairn Heights in Cape Town.

Fire and rescue services spokeswoman Sharon Bosch said the fire had destroyed extensive vegetation but no properties were in danger.

The increase of fires had been attributed to the “fire season”, which “sees an increase in the number of fires reported between November and March as a result of the higher temperatures and sometimes gale-force winds”.

The current weather conditions in Cape Town had also contributed to the increase in fires.

“Last year, we were still experiencing floods in November. This year, the weather has been drier but it has also been extremely windy and, of course, these conditions are conducive to the spread of fires,” said Smith.

With vegetation fires, Smith said it was suspected that wood-cutters or bush dwellers may be to blame, while combustible items such as cigarettes, candles and stoves left unattended could have attributed towards the structural fires.

“That is why it is so crucial that residents manage open flames properly and discard cigarette butts in a responsible manner. A small spark is all it takes to set off a blaze,” said Smith.

“We have also seen a number of incidents where structures are deliberately set alight due to personal squabbles, often with devastating consequences.”

Smith urged people to work with the city to prevent fires.

“The city has done a great deal to minimise the risk of fires, because ultimately it is better to avoid fires.”

- Sapa

Wife to get RDP house in divorce: Sisulu

Parliament - A law amendment is in the pipeline to ensure that if a couple in a free government house get divorced the house goes to the wife, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said on Tuesday.

“That is how our policy should read,” Sisulu told Parliament's portfolio committee on human settlements after a briefing on the first 100 days of her second stint in the portfolio.

“In 2006, we were involved in a women's build in Gauteng and after that we had an imbizo, and we came up with an idea that I had hoped in my second coming would have crystallised into policy, where we agreed that the house belongs to the man and the wife for as long they're married.

“When they get divorced the house belongs to the woman. That is our policy. So the man picks up his jacket and gets out,” she added.

The minister said her thinking was informed by the fact that mothers were the primary caregivers for their children.

“The wife stays because the wife is indeed responsible for the children.”

Sisulu suggested the policy had not yet found its way into law because the department had been “presided by men”.

She said if a wife died the house would go to the husband, on condition the children were also considered beneficiaries and that the house accrued to them if he remarried.

“If he finds somebody else, he gives the house to the children and goes to the other woman.”

Sisulu served as housing minister from 2004 to 2009. The portfolio was then given to Tokyo Sexwale before she returned to it earlier this year.

She told Sapa the provision on divorce would be enshrined in upcoming amendments to the Housing Act. She hoped in a year it would be on its way into law books.

In the meanwhile, her department would implement it as policy, she said.

- Sapa

Cape’s R15.7m stadium upkeep plan

Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has set aside R15.7 million for “corrective and preventative” maintenance at Cape Town Stadium.

Garreth Bloor, the mayoral committee member for tourism, events and economic development, said: “The Cape Town Stadium has a maintenance strategy to ensure that the current structure, systems and facilities are maintained according to industry standards for structural elements. Such maintenance is essential to prevent potential larger maintenance costs in the future.”

The stadium has been running at an annual loss of R40m since Sail de France terminated its management contract with the city. The operating costs since 2009 are more than R400m.

The city is seeking to change zoning restrictions that will allow it to use the stadium precinct for commercial activities. This process is still under way, as well as a consideration of possible business plan models.

Talks with the South African Rugby Union about moving games from Newlands to the stadium are understood to be continuing.

The city invested R3m in this weekend’s Rugby Championship clash between the Springboks and the Wallabies, with the condition that “the support of this event will assist with current negotiations between the city and Western Province Rugby for future events to be held at the Cape Town Stadium”.

Bloor said the three tenders advertised for upgrades and replacements at the stadium were the “first tranche” of maintenance work. These included a tender for new lifts. The stadium currently has two operational lifts and because of the volume of people passing through the venue during events, an additional four lifts have to be installed.

The second tender was for the upgrade and replacement of the stadium’s turnstiles.

Bloor said the city wanted to replace the British service provider with a local company. Other information technology-related equipment would also be replaced in keeping with international best practice

“The stadium is currently within that five-year (turnaround) cycle and to maintain a good functioning facility, it is prudent to start the process now.”

- Cape Argus

Kids bear brunt of burns in winter

Cape Town - Thousands of families in under-resourced communities are turning to whatever means possible to warm their houses and shacks and to prepare a hot meal or warm drink.

But, say researchers, with the cold weather comes an increase in one of the most devastating types of injuries to the human body, and that is burns.

Ashley van Niekerk and other researchers at the Medical Research Council found that by global standards South Africa had a “high rate of childhood burns” and as many as 1 300 children a year died of these – although many of the cases were preventable.

“During winter, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital experiences an increase in children admitted to the hospital with burn injuries,” said Angelique Jordaan, the hospital’s communications officer.

“The use of candles, paraffin stoves and open fires increases, placing children at greater risk of burn injuries.”

While adults are affected too, burn injuries are much more likely in children and are most devastating to a child’s body as it is still developing.

Van Niekerk’s team found that burn injuries were a persistent threat affecting children in low-income settings, and, said the researchers:.

“The highest childhood burn mortality rates are reported in the first three years.

“This concentration of burn mortality and injury among infants and toddlers occurs with the highest rates among very young black children.”

The rates are also higher among boys than for girls.

Roux Martinez and her team at Red Cross’s specialised paediatric burns unit – the only one of its kind in Africa – highlight the effects of burn injuries on the development of a child.

“Burn victims face prolonged and painful treatment and in most cases are left scarred for life and with a permanent physical disability.

“Children’s skin is thinner than adults and their skin burns at lower temperatures, more deeply, making them susceptible to harsher burns with long-term effects. It is one of the most devastating injuries and leaves in its wake physical and mental anguish for a child.”

Jordaan said once a child was discharged from hospital, follow-up rehabilitation and, frequently, long-term reconstructive surgery might be needed.

“It is important that the child returns for these follow-up sessions so that progress can be monitored and challenges can be identified early on.”

Martinez said the effects on a child were multidimensional.

She said burn victims were often teased about their appearance or disfiguration when they re-entered the community, and this could lead to poor self-esteem.

“The long hospital stay and the psychological stress can lead to problems at school and can cause education to become delayed.”

At the specialised unit, 85 percent of burns patients treated are younger than 6 and 98 percent are from disadvantaged communities.

Behind the statistic is Lilian Xipato (not her real name), a 5-year-old girl from Gugulethu, who was severely injured last year when she pulled the cord of a kettle and almost half a litre of boiling water splashed on to her arm.

“Her skin is so badly scarred there,” her mother said, “but we try by all means to tell her that it doesn’t matter how it looks.

“The only lucky thing in this disaster is that it didn’t burn her hand, but her arm is still a big worry for us.”

tanya.farber@inl.co.za

- Cape Times

Clean-up after Cape storm

Cape Town - More than 30,000 people were affected as temperatures plummeted and heavy rain hit Cape Town at the weekend.

Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons said 25,689 people had been helped on Saturday, and a further 6 400 people had been affected on Sunday.

On Saturday, 16 904 blankets, 25 326 meals and 945 baby packs were distributed in Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Philippi, Gugulethu, Strand and Somerset West.

Gridlocked traffic and eight car crashes in just two hours, as well as more than 100 flooded roads, marked the start of the weekend.

The Weekend Argus reported that there was flooding in parts of the Civic Centre, where mayor Patricia de Lille has her offices.

Chapman’s Peak Drive and the Table Mountain Cableway were closed for safety reasons before the storm hit on Saturday.

Cold conditions are forecast to continue into this week, with maximum temperatures reaching 15°C.

Cape Town traffic services spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said there had been 24 motor vehicle accidents since Friday, with one fatality.

The driver of a Toyota died at 7.15pm on Friday evening and three others were seriously injured when the car collided with a bus between Robert Sobukwe Road and Symphony Way in Bellville.

On Saturday, the Ghost Squad arrested a woman for reckless and negligent driving after she drove two cars off the N2 at a speed of 240km/h.

Meanwhile, residents in Kraaifontein, Delft and Philippi East mopped up the remaining water in their homes on Sunday.

With broom in hand, Khanyswa Sithelo swept water into two buckets before carrying them outside her dwelling in Tsunami, Delft.

She and her two children, Sbabaklo, 5, and Siposethu, 3, have the flu and had been to Karl Bremer Hospital for treatment.

“We have been sick for a month now. Every time it rains it is cold and damp,” Sithelo said, coughing and holding her chest tightly.

On a pathway some distance away, a group of young children played in a puddle of water.

A little girl picked up a dead mouse dropped it, and bent over to pick up some other objects.

A small stream of water and rubbish trickled down the pathway.

Celiwe Gontshi, 35, had managed to get the water out of her house, but it was still damp and cold inside.

“Children are dying because of this cold.

“On Friday,I was in Tygerberg Hospital because I had chest pains,” Gontshi said.

“This cold is making everyone ill.”

She added that while the water had been mopped up, once it rained the flooding started all over again.

In Wallacedene in Kraaifontein, Rachmat Petersen, 32, and her five-year-old daughter, Moeshfieka, sat on their bed with one duvet covering to share.

“We have nowhere else to go. When it rains everything gets soaked,” Petersen explained.

Water dripped from the ceiling, a couch next to the bed was damp and the floor was muddy.

“It is extremely cold. My child is sick every day,” she said.

“We start a fire to keep warm in the evenings.”

- Cape Argus

natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za

Macassar: Lindiwe Sisulu's dept provided me with incorrect information - Patricia de Lille

Cape Town mayor sincerely apologises for the confusion that was caused

City working with the Macassar community to make progress possible

The people earmarked for the Macassar Housing Project will be drawn from the Housing Database and must meet the qualification criteria. The City of Cape Town is planning further engagement with the Project Steering Committee which has been elected by the Macassar community.

During my meeting with the National Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, the City's Human Settlements Directorate had provided me with information on a piece of land where the Macassar Housing Project is situated. It was suggested to me as a possible solution to the housing needs of the people of Lwandle. But, at the stage of receiving the information, I was not aware that this is the same piece of land where the Macassar Housing Project is situated.

The Human Settlements department supplied me with information that was incorrect.

The City of Cape Town sincerely apologises for the confusion that was caused.

The people of Ward 109, who qualify for a housing opportunity, will be accommodated in the broader Macassar Development Precinct in the future. Ward 109 comprises residents from Macassar and also a small portion of land in Khayelitsha, called Enkanini.

The people from Lwandle were asked to go back to the SANRAL land until the issue of the road reserve is resolved. It is intended that the SANRAL evictees who meet the qualification criteria will eventually be moved to suitable land.

Statement issued by the Cape Town Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille,

- Politicsweb

20 000 affected by Cape storms

Cape Town - Rainy weather conditions in Cape Town have affected more than 20 000 people and over 5 000 households, mayor Patricia de Lille said on Monday.

She said the city's disaster risk management (DRM) team had handed out 15 792 blankets, just over 20 000 meals, 177 baby packs and 712 flood kits.

A flood and storms planning task team had given residents practical tips on how to raise floor levels, divert flood waters and to reduce health hazards associated with stagnant water.

“Despite these measures, we know that many people are still affected by the flooding and DRM will continue working in affected areas to ensure that our assistance reaches the city’s most vulnerable residents,” De Lille said.

On Sunday Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said Khayelitsha was the worst affected area.

“Strong winds resulted in a storm surge since Saturday night that will extend until later today (Sunday) along Table Bay and Cape Agulhas.”

Structures on or near the coast were at risk.

Waves of six to nine metres and strong onshore winds could intensify the impact of the storm surge.

“When this happens, the rise of the water level above the high tide can reach areas that might otherwise have been safe.”

The National Sea Rescue Institute urged people to use extreme caution around the coast as cold fronts brought high swells and dangerous sea conditions along the coastline.

“Big sea swells brought in by a series of cold fronts together with the full moon spring tide has resulted in dangerous sea conditions around our coast, and extreme caution is advised, particularly to anglers fishing from shore, boaters, paddlers and bathers, and we urge the public not to venture along harbour walls where waves could sweep over.”

Weather conditions were expected to improve today, with only light showers in Cape Town.

Parts of Salamander Road in Hangberg caved in on Saturday.

“The roads are old here and the foundations are not stable. When we have a lot of rain then we see damage like this all around us,” resident Angelo Joseph, 37, said.

“There might be even more damage to come as we are still in the beginning of winter.”

Storms River Way in Manenberg lived up to its name on Sunday with most of the road flooded. In some parts the water was knee high.

Some residents could not step outdoors with water reaching front gardens and blocking driveways.

In Port Alfred, a 26-year-old man was rescued from a river cruise barge that was swept down the Kowie River by heavy winds yesterday.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said that the man, who had a job interview at a restaurant on the banks of the river, had tried to rescue the boat after it broke its moorings in the 40km/h wind.

The NSRI’s Port Alfred volunteer sea rescue duty crew launched a sea rescue craft to coral the unmanned runaway barge.

“But on our arrival on scene, to our surprise, we found Port Alfred resident Bongani Nkohle on the river cruise barge Sarah-Jane and he was being swept down river,” Lambinon said .

“It appears that Mr Nkohle was being interviewed for a job at Ocean Basket, on the banks of the Kowie River when he noticed the barge break loose from her moorings.”

“Mr Nkohle apparently told his interviewers that he had to rescue the boat, saying he could not sit by idly while a potential tragedy unfolded in front of him.

“Fully clothed, he leapt into the river and swam after the boat and on reaching it clambered aboard.

“But he was unable to do anything, so he simply drifted with the barge until NSRI Port Alfred arrived,” Lambinon said.

After helping to warm a shivering Nkohle, the team towed the barge back, dropping him off at the restaurant where he continued with his interview.

The barge was re-moored.

In Hermanus on Sunday, the NSRI volunteer sea rescue duty crew were called in after a man was swept off the rocks in front of the beach club, next to the new harbour.

”On arrival, an extensive search commenced for a 68-year-old Parow man missing in very rough sea conditions,” Lambinon said.

The man had reportedly been standing on the rocks with a 43-year-old friend from Mitchells Plain. They were taking photographs when both were swept into the surf, Lambinon said.

The Mitchells Plain man managed to get out of the water and confirmed that his elderly friend had disappeared beneath the surf.

Despite an extensive search no sign of the man has been found.

“Police will continue a search and have opened an investigation,” Lambinon said.

Meanwhile, a fire destroyed 16 shacks in Khayelitsha’s Site C on Saturday morning.

Residents say the fire was caused by a man who left burning candles unattended when he went to bed.

warren.fortune@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

‘We can’t stop the water from coming in’

Cape Town - They may be veterans of Western Cape winters, but the cold, rain and frequent flooding is something the Tununu family could do without.

Their two-roomed shack in Brown’s Farm in Philippi is full of reminders of valuables damaged in winters past.

They are among the thousands of families who are battening down the hatches this week as a severe cold front heads towards us.

The narrow pathways around the home of Thandi Tununu, 23, and her family are already under water from the weekend rain, prompting residents to don their wellies.

“When it rains a lot this is not a good place to be,” said Tununu, looking miserably around the home she shares with her mother, twin sister and her sister’s three young children.

“There is nothing we can do to stop the water from coming into our homes here. We do what we can to try and save our belongings from being damaged by the water, but at the end of the day it’s always too late.”

The beds have already been placed on top of crates in anticipation of water coming in. The wardrobe is rotting away from being exposed to damp conditions and is barely upright. In the kitchen, Tununu and her mother have attached steel covers to the bottom of kitchen cupboards to try to protect them.

When there is a heavy downpour, they will throw loose sand inside and around their shack to soak up excess water.

“This is all we can do. We have been staying here for 10 years and every winter we have to deal with this problem. Nothing can stop the water from coming in. We sleep with water around us. It is difficult because the water brings the cold with it.

“There is not even a protective covering on our roof to stop the water from seeping through because it is too expensive.

“Also, the water on the ground is not clean. It mixes with the sewage from the drains around us and it is causing the children around here to get sick.”

Tununu showed the Cape Argus some of her nephew’s ailments caused by exposure to toxic sludge. Three-year-old Emihle Tununu’s arms and legs are covered in sores. He was given creams at the clinic.

“We cannot live like this. The government needs to do something to stop the flooding permanently or provide us with houses. They give us food parcels and blankets when we are hit with storms. What does that do? The blankets won’t make the water go away and the food doesn’t last.”

Families across the city will also look for a variety of ways to keep warm this week, which has its own dangers attached to it. Four people, including two children, died in shack or backyard fires at the weekend.

The city’s Disaster Risk Management has called on residents to take care when using candles and paraffin stoves.

Meanwhile City of Cape Town departments have been hard at work to get their winter readiness programme organised in time to help prevent flooding.

There is a particular focus on poorer areas, often the most severely affected.

The Disaster Risk Management Centre will ensure that all rescue and disaster assistance agencies are on standby. They also have an early-warning system in place so that the city has as much time as possible to prevent disasters.

In the past month, residents have been given tips on how to raise floor levels, divert flood waters, and reduce the health hazards associated with stagnant water.

The Human Settlements Directorate also has plans to reduce the impact of the inevitable winter storms and flooding.

It is asking residents to contact the city’s call centre for sandbags to keep water out. Flood kits will be distributed where flooding has been severe.

Solid Waste Management is clearing stormwater drains to prevent blockages.

Social Development and Early Childhood Development will provide aid in the form of food, blankets and toiletries to those affected by winter weather around the city. The city’s field workers are also able to help people who need emergency accommodation, social work services, and rehabilitation services by directing them to one of the city-wide assessment centres.

The city can be reached at 0860 103 089.

For all life- or property-threatening emergencies, call 107 from a landline, or 021 480 7700 from a cellphone.

Disaster Risk Management says people can donate food or blankets at their nearest fire stations.

Spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said there were 30 fire stations in the city.

People can also call the Disaster Risk Management centre on 0809 114 357.

Food or blankets can also be donated to:

* The Haven night shelter for homeless people in Claremont, Green Point, Woodstock and Retreat can be contacted on 021 425 4700.

* The Ark night shelter in Somerset West on 021 855 2329 or U-turn, an organisation assisting homeless people, on 021 674 6119.

warren.fortune@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus

Minister warns on fire risk for kids

Cape Town - More would be done to protect children falling prey to violence, particularly in communities where abuse, neglect and rape were rife, said Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini.

She visited Delft on Sunday – the launch site of this year’s Child Protection Week which is commemorated annually to raise awareness of the rights of children.

Dlamini said that this week her department would evaluate the work of institutions which protected children and also look at new problems which emerged as a result of a changing society.

“We have tabled a White Paper on families which puts forward proposals on how South African families should be supported in order to flourish and function optimally. The paper views family as a key development imperative and seeks to mainstream family issues into government-wide policy initiatives,” she said.

On Friday – two days before the start of CPW – two children living in a backyard dwelling in Delft died in a fire which destroyed their shack.

The children, Alfonzo Solomon, 6, and his brother Marshall, 5, were left unattended by their grandmother who went to buy food.

Visiting the site on Sunday, Dlamini said the children might have survived the fire if they had not been left alone.

“Reports about the fire shows a lack of a support system for both the children and the grandmother. Had a proper family support system been in place, there would have been no need to leave the children locked up and unattended, and they might have survived the fire,” said Dlamini.

The boys’ grandmother and foster mother, Elaine Steneberg, wept as she recalled details about the night she left the boys at home.

Their mother, Steneberg said, was a substance abuser who had never been there for the children.

“I have looked after them since they were babies,” she said. “On Friday, they went to sleep early and I decided to collect a food parcel, just down the road.

“When I was being served at the counter, the neighbour ran to me and told me my house was on fire.”

Steneberg and Solomon were staying at their church pastor’s home until she was able to get back on her feet.

Dlamini said households headed by grandparents were an increasing trend in South Africa, and the trend could be avoided.

On Sunday, she offered to help get Steneberg’s daughter into a counselling programme.

“I want to urge people not to leave their children alone. It is unfortunate that such young lives had to be lost this way. Our thoughts are with the family,” Dlamini said.

francesca.villette@inl.co.za

- Cape Times