'Low-cost housing under threat'

The increased cost of cement and soaring fuel prices mean the delivery of low-cost houses "is becoming impossible", housing associations say.

Rising building costs would not only mean fewer houses would be built to ease the city's housing backlog, but they could also affect the quality of the homes provided.

Bheki Nkonyane, of the Cape Town Community Housing Company, said steep building costs meant there was "no way people could afford structures that would not compromise on quality".

The issue of quality was more serious in the Western Cape because of such environmental factors as flooding and strong winds, he said.

The auditor-general's report on the administration of low cost-housing projects in the Western Cape has said most of the units inspected are "of a poor quality". Of 110 houses inspected, more than 60 were found to be sub-standard.

Nkonyane said housing companies needed to work with "policymakers" such as the government and municipalities to find ways of dealing with rising costs.

Johan Snyman, of the Bureau for Economic Research, said the rises in cement prices had exceeded the inflation rate since 1999.

One reason was that the energy-intensive production of cement made it vulnerable to fuel price hikes.

Retail cement prices had risen more than 8 percent since last year, Snyman said.

The building sector was "transport-intensive" as labour and materials had to be transported long distances to construction sites.

The prices of cement and bricks have each increased by about 140 percent since 2000.

With the 96 percent increase in the price of diesel in the past year, builders have been hit hard by rising costs and lower profits.

Thubelisha Homes, a section 21 company that undertakes low-cost housing projects for the national Department of Housing, said amounts tendered for developments were beginning to reflect the price increases in materials.

The most recent study by the Economic Bureau for Research found that amounts tendered last year were on average 15 percent higher than those in the year before.

The bureau predicted the amounts tendered this year would be on average 12 percent higher than those last year.

Nkonyane said the average 42 square metre house would cost about R120 000, half of which would be subsidised by the government.

The government needed to increase subsidy amounts to take rising prices into account, otherwise affordable housing would be "an illusion", he said.

A survey by the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Construction Economics and Management has found, however, that cement accounts for only a small percentage of residential building costs. - Cape Times

Politicians recycle their winter promises

Promises, promises Capetonians have heard plenty of them from politicians over the years, especially when winter rains strike, leaving thousands of people with flooded homes and miserable living conditions.

July's rains are unusually heavy, but the flooding and its effects on people are not. The poorest of the poor have again been displaced in their thousands and a comprehensive, permanent solution to the problem appears far off.

From reports in the Cape Argus it's clear that there is a predictable annual winter pattern in Cape Town, regardless of the political affiliation of the incumbent civic administration.

Each year as the storm clouds threaten to dump their load on the people below, the city's disaster management department "braces itself" ahead of expected flooding and prepares to "put measures in place" to alleviate the resulting problems.

Then, after the rains, politicians don their gumboots and wade through flooded shacks to "assess the extent of the damage".

News pictures show soaked mattresses in waterlogged bedrooms, dejected residents scooping water from their living-rooms and rivers of rubbish flowing through streets of mud where children play in stagnating pools.

The politicians sympathise with those affected, and make the right noises by slamming the dire circumstances in which people find themselves.

As community halls are opened and blankets and food distributed, hopes are expressed that "this time" will be the last and calls are made to the government to fulfil previous promises of housing and service delivery for all.

But little happens...

A 2002 editorial in the Cape Argus stated that the housing problem in the Western Cape was "neatly illustrated by a report which recalled promises politicians made to residents of the flooded shacklands on the Cape Flats in 2007.

The report also showed that the leaders' promises for those in danger to be relocated have remained mere soundbites".

The editorial asked: "Can politicians really deliver on their promises?"

Residents continued to find themselves in the same predicament because of political inaction and red tape, it pointed out.

In addition to "political inaction and red tape", refrains often repeated in flooding reports are the calls for the various levels of government to work together, and the lack of land available for resettlement.

In recent years, the flooding has given rise to protests about housing delivery.

On Monday night, about 500 residents of flooded shacks staged a protest on the Mew Way on-ramp of the N2, burning tyres and throwing stones at motorists.

While housing backlogs continue to grow, along with the increasing desperation of those affected by the flooding fury, mitigation remains the focus.

Cape Town deputy mayor Grant Haskin says the reality is that people should be moved from the low-lying areas. In time, people will be moved out, and areas identified as prone to flooding will be physically demarcated - for instance by being fenced off, he says.

The city will, however, have to strengthen its "land invasion unit" to deter newcomers from again erecting informal dwellings in flood-prone areas - thus perpetuating the cycle.

Haskin said the city had done everything it could to lessen the damage and the impact of the floods through its disaster management and relief efforts, but added that it "can't stop the flooding".

He said the problem that had to be resolved was that of communities living in flood-prone areas, and that called for "a housing solution".

In the meantime, the city was considering approaching Dutch engineers, who could give specialist advice on additional measures to mitigate future flooding. - Cape Argus

Flood fury boils over

Towns along the Cape West Coast suffered major infrastructural damage with key roads and bridges washed away as torrential rain continued to ravage the province this morning.

The widespread flooding has sparked violent reactions among communities in Cape Town as hundreds of residents along the N2 blockaded the highway to protest at the lack of proper housing.

Police reported that around 500 residents of flooded shacks staged a protest on the Mew Way on-ramp of the N2, preventing traffic flow for about two hours last night as they burned tyres in the road and threw stones at motorists.

...the flooding has also sparked calls for areas of the city to be declared a disaster area

Police spokesperson Elliott Sinyangana said this morning: "Police responded quickly, managed to negotiate and get the people to disperse."

Officers are monitoring the situation along sections of the N2, but no violence had been reported by 9am.

The city's Disaster Management spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said: "The protests on the N2 are about housing issues and disaster management and other authorities are in the areas providing disaster relief."

The Cape Town Weather Office warned today that the cold, wet and windy weather conditions are set to continue to wreak havoc until Thursday morning.

The Weather Office has also warned of more flooding in certain areas, and rough sea conditions with waves of more than 5 metres between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay Wednesday.

'The city is providing what it can, but this is a much bigger problem than people are saying it is'

Gale-force westerly winds are also expected between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay while snow may fall overnight in high-lying areas near Ceres.

And the flooding has also sparked calls for areas of the city to be declared a disaster area.

Simon Grindrod, mayoral committee member for Economic Development, Social Development and Tourism, told the Cape Argus this morning: "I've written to the Premier asking him to declare a city-wide disaster so we can access the emergency funding that we need.

The problem is that the NGOs that we would otherwise rely upon are over-stretched dealing with the recent xenophobia crisis.

"We need heavy pump machinery, emergency starter kits, the plastic sheeting, and we need sand. We also need to be feeding people on a daily basis.

"The city is providing what it can, but this is a much bigger problem than people are saying it is. I'm also concerned about DIY electrical cables which backyard dwellers are erecting. We need a huge effort to educate people to the dangers of exposed electrical cables in water."

Meanwhile, rockfalls were also reported on De Waal Drive where work was being done this morning to secure banks above the road, and eastwards from Gordon's Bay on Clarence Drive, where several motorist were lucky to escape unscathed. The Huguenot Tunnel was on Monday also temporarily closed due to rockfalls.

At 9am on Tuesday, 4,295 housing structures had been affected, 18,627 people had been displaced, and 12,409 food parcels had been distributed along with 13,249 blankets.

Meanwhile the capacity in the six dams which feed the City of Cape Town rose by almost 10 percent in the past week.

On Monday, Theewaterskloof was 84,7 percent full, Voelvlei 78,5 percent, Wemmershoek 74 percent, Steenbras Upper 83 percent and Steenbras Lower 66,4 percent.

Willie Enright, from the Department of Water Affairs in the Western Cape, said on Monday the sixth, the newly-built Berg River dam, near the river's source in Franschhoek, had filled to 77,7 percent. It was up 15 percent from 62 percent in a week.

This was despite water being released from the dam a fortnight ago. The dam boasts the largest sluices in South Africa, and Enright said these had been opened for the first time last week, at a rate of 200 cubic metres per second, to ensure that the Berg River remained ecologically healthy.

On the West Coast, the flooded Olifants River has caused widespread damage, and has filled the Clanwilliam Dam to capacity, up from 55 percent just a fortnight ago.

On Monday, 1000 cubic metres (tons) of water were flowing over the dam wall a second and this morning 11 of the 13 dam sluices were opened to allow the dam level to subside. - Cape Argus

Cape's informal settlements in weary battle

"We don't want your blankets. We don't want your food. What we want are proper houses. The houses that we have been promised for years and have not been delivered."

This was the collective message from frustrated Kosovo residents in Philippi on yesterday to Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi who visited the flood ravaged area.

According to Disaster Risk Management's Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, 3,000 people in the area were displaced and 400 shacks affected.

The Philippi community is one of 24 informal settlements affected by floods in the Western Cape in which 16,000 people have been displaced and 3,600 dwellings affected.

"If political parties want to get it right next year during the elections, they should just deliver houses," said one resident who declined to be named.

Another resident, Ntombekaya Qhala, said she feared for her children.

"I have three children and I fear that they will get diseases from the pools of water surrounding our houses," Qhala said.

"We simply need houses - we are tired of this miserable life."

Dyantyi acknowledged residents' frustrations and the difficulties they have every winter when their homes get waterlogged.

He said Kosovo was one of the areas that needed urgent attention and that plans had been put together by his department, the city and other stakeholders to find suitable pieces of land to relocate the people from the area to.

"You cannot stop the rains from falling," he said, adding the biggest challenge faced by his department was the acquisition of land for housing development.

Meanwhile, in Valhalla Park, residents faced similar conditions as the rains left informal dwellings in the area under water.

Sarifa Simons, her husband Shafiek and their four children were among the families who were displaced after the flooding of their informal dwelling in 8th Avenue.

"I don't know what to do now. I get a disability grant, that's all," said Simons, holding a baby to her hip.

Simons said she has been living in Valhalla Park for two years and was also a flood victim last year.

Their home also has no electricity. "We make the fire outside to cook and to get warm," she said.

"We struggle if the wood is wet, like now. My children get sick with flu because of the wet and the damp, and my house floods all the time."

Another family affected was the Odendaals, whose home was destroyed by gusting winds and rain.

Father-of-three Peter Odendaal yesterday tried manfully to scoop water out of the shack, but appeared to make very little progress.

"It's been three years since I have been living here. Every winter this happens and there is nothing we can do about it," said Odendaal, who only has the use of one of his hands.

Another resident Sumaya Sylvester said they have come to expect flooding.

She said she has lived in Valhalla Park for two years and "nothing has changed".

- Cape Argus

Audit shows up major cracks in low cost housing

STRONG action has been called for following a damning auditor general‘s report on low cost housing in the Western Cape.

The DA wants the report debated in the provincial legislature and also wants parliament‘s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) to “deal with it”.

DA MPL Robin Carlisle said yesterday he would request Scopa to deal with the report as a matter of urgency.

A performance audit report published by the auditor general in May revealed that 60 per cent of low cost homes in the province had serious defects.

The report focused on the allocation of housing subsidies and the administration of low cost housing projects by the Western Cape local government and housing department.

It found that at least 2210 municipal employees who earned more than the subsidy threshold of R42000, and thus were not entitled to a subsidy, had in fact received subsidies to the value of at least R65-million.

Carlisle said: “This is only the tip of the iceberg as the sample only covered municipal employees at seven councils. During the period of the audit, some 200000 subsidies were allocated, and on the basis of the auditor general‘s sample, the fraud must be massive.”

In a physical inspection of a sample of low cost housing projects from across the province, the auditor general found the general condition of the houses to be poor.

The report said 60% of the houses had one or more serious defects, including severe cracks in walls and foundations, leaking roofs, windows and doors that did not function properly, and reticulation services that did not function properly.

In addition 49% of the houses experienced dampness, many erven had been serviced but the top structures had never been built, and there was a difference in the department‘s books where the accounts in respect of subsidies failed to balance by an amount of R15,8-million.

Vusi Tshose, a spokesman for housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, said the provincial administration had already spent R80-million on a rectification programme.

“That programme is still taking place, specifically in Cape Town,” he said.

“In George, the MEC got together with construction companies and asked them to come back to him with a programme of how they would rectify shoddy work.”

Tshose added that they had “learnt a strict lesson” from the past and only paid out the full amount owing to construction companies once the building inspectors were happy with the work done on low cost houses.

“Province has a plan in place and is working with the local municipalities to identify and rectify the shoddy work,” he said.

Carlisle said that quality assurance measures put in place by the government did not seem to be working.

“Developers are allowed to build sub-standard houses and get away with it. Projects on which millions have already been spent on infrastructure come to grinding halts. Brand new houses are vandalised because the owners cannot be found, or the house was not allocated in the first place.”

- The Herald

Cape floods: Disaster teams on full alert

Misery is mounting in the areas worst hit by the downpours that have pummelled the region, leaving a farm worker dead and more than 16,300 residents living in damp and deteriorating conditions.

And as stormwater flows into sewerage pipes in areas such as Gugulethu, fears are growing of an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Last night, people living near the Olifants River in Clanwilliam were preparing to leave their homes after the river burst its banks.

The Huguenot Tunnel was closed after rockfalls on the Worcester side.

Community Safety spokesperson Makhaya Mani said the route had to be closed as a precaution and would be opened once the weather cleared. Meanwhile, motorists were being diverted to alternative routes, Mani said.

On Monday, more than 16,000 people were being helped in Cape Town by relief agencies.

Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, spokesperson for the city's disaster risk management centre, said heavy rain was forecast to persist until Wednesday evening, continuing to put a strain on relief operations.

Scores of other areas, among them Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain and Ottery, were also badly affected by the rain. In Kosovo, near Philippi, streets were turned into little lakes and the water rose ankle-high in shacks.

In Khayelitsha, people took to the streets last night. A small group of angry people threw stones and blocked parts of the N2. The police's flying squad quelled the crowd. Police spokesperson Elliot Sinyangana said the group were angry about their homes being flooded.

"It was just a small group of people," Sinyangana said. "They say they need help with the problem of flooding."

While disaster management response teams continued mopping up efforts, food, blankets and other relief supplies were being provided by a range of non-governmental organisations. Three community halls and a sports complex had been opened to provide shelter for people whose homes were flooded.

City stormwater staff were "pumping out" water standing in pools in informal settlements to reduce health risks.

The SA Weather Service has forecast that the heavy rain will persist until tomorrow evening.

"The preparedness and response strategy of the City of Cape Town has been stepped up and the disaster response teams are on full alert," the disaster management centre said.

It said people could reduce the risk of their homes being flooded by raising their floors to a level higher than the ground outside. Also, they could move to higher ground if they stayed in an area prone to flooding.

Alfred Mendis, 33, pointing to a flooded street, said it was "something like" the conditions in the shack he shared with his pregnant wife and two-year-old child. Artwell Peter, 34, watched as children played in the puddles left when drains overflowed, and said he was worried the little ones would fall ill.

"They don't know it's dangerous - they're enjoying it," he said ruefully...

- Cape Times

Alternative land sought for flood displaced

Waterlogged: Thousands of Cape Flats residents have been displaced by floods

The City of Cape Town says a special unit is needed to address the mushrooming of informal settlements in low-lying areas in the Cape Peninsula. Mayoral Committee Member for Housing, Dan Plato, says people invade land soon after others have been relocated to high-lying areas.

Thousands of people have been affected by flooding on the Cape Flats. Plato says land invasions are a serious challenge.

The Western Cape Housing Department says it is working closely with the City of Cape Town to acquire land from private owners in an effort to curb the housing demand. Provincial Housing Minister Richard Dyantyi visited flood ravaged Kosovo informal settlement on the Cape Flats this afternoon to assess the situation. Thousands of people have been displaced since heavy rains hit the Cape Peninsula over the weekend.

- SABC

16 000 hit by floods

Torrential rain lashing the Western Cape has left at least one person dead in Citrusdal and thousands homeless on the Cape Flats and the City of Cape Town is trucking food and blankets to ease the misery.

Philippi, on the Cape Flats, was hit hardest with thousands of houses flooded in the Kosovo, Pola Park, Boys Town and Never Never areas.

On the West Coast, rain hit the Citrusdal district hard. A bridge across the Olifants River was washed away, taking with it a man who returning home from visiting his girlfriend on Saturday night.

Citrusdal police commissioner Solly Barends said the man was swept into bushes and drowned. His body had been recovered.

The N7 between Citrusdal and Clanwilliam was closed on Sunday after a dam broke and flooded the road about 10km outside Citrusdal. Police were still on the scene early today and had re-opened one lane.

To the east of Citrusdal residents of the Bo Rivier area were unable to reach the town this morning after a 10m chunk of tar road gave way - leaving a vast ditch across the road.

Mop-up operations are under way in the province, though the Cape Town Weather office has warned that the cold, wet and windy conditions are set to persist until Wednesday. Heavy rain - between 50mm and 60mm - is expected in parts of the Western Cape and more flooding is expected.

Light snow is possible over the western high ground of the Western Cape and Northern Cape.

By 9am on Monday, three community halls in the Cape Town were housing displaced people - in Lusaka, Crossroads and Lwandle in the Helderberg - indicating that most people were opting to weather the storm and remain in their sodden homes.

This morning traffic was delayed by flooding in the vicinity of Main and Belmont roads in Rondebosch and on Rhodes Drive, where there was a mudslide on Sunday, causing water to dam up. Flooding caused delays on Racecourse Road in Kenilworth and Table Bay Boulevard.

About 40 accidents were reported over the weekend and early this morning, according to city traffic spokesperson Merle Lourens. One person was killed and two seriously injured in one accident in Symphony Road, Philippi East.

The city's Disaster Risk Management Centre began mopping up on Sunday.

A statement from the city's disaster co-ordinating team verified that 3600 structures in 24 informal settlements were affected by flooding. Altogether about 16 000 people have been affected.

Wilfred Solomons-Johannes told the Cape Argus that 24 areas would receive attention after officials had assessed the damage. Hot meals, blankets and emergency shelter have been provided.

The Cape Flats had been most affected by flood damage, the city said. This had been because of the high water table and limited run-off capacity. "Formal areas have experienced only limited localised flooding due to blocked drains," said the statement.

This morning Langa residents waded through a stream of water running between Langa's Zone 25 and Joe Slovo on their way to work. Some made stone footpaths to cross the stream. Dressed in yellow rainsuits and boots, some waded through the water while one person braved the deep stream and drove through.

Resident Mxolisi Mboni said:

"Year in and year out the roads are like this. We have nowhere to go now because our shacks are flooded. This is what we go through all the time."

- Cape Argus

Floods leave 10 000 homeless

Cape Town - Three people have died and at least 10,000 residents of 23 informal settlements have been left homeless, after heavy rain wreaked havoc in the Cape Peninsula over the weekend.

Cape Town Disaster Management said 3,600 buildings had been flooded.

The South African Weather Service sent out a national warning that more rain is expected in the next 24 hours.

Twelve parts of the Cape Metropole have been identified as high-risk areas, while the rest of the Western Cape is not as badly affected.

The head of the fire department and disaster management in the Overberg, Reinard Geldenhuys, said it had rained on Saturday night, but not heavily. Rescue and diving teams were, however, on standby.

Two die crossing raging river

Two men drowned when they tried to cross the raging Boontjies River in Citrusdal on Saturday night. A third man survived and managed to reach a nearby farm.

Rescue workers retrieved the body of one of the men from the river early on Sunday morning.

Rescue dogs and members of the police's diving unit were still searching for the second man late on Sunday. Their identities are not known.

A Citrusdal resident said 104mm of rain had fallen by Sunday afternoon.

Elsewhere, an accident on the R44 near Kogelberg claimed the life of a 35-year-old man on Sunday morning.

A traffic department spokesperson, Merle Lourens said: "It would appear as if the car skidded and the driver lost control and drove into the mountain."

A fifteen-year-old girl was injured in the accident. Their names were not yet available.

45 road accidents

Forty-five accidents have been reported in the Peninsula since Thursday, with 10 of these on Sunday.

Several of Cape Town's busiest roads were closed to traffic. The road between Constantia Nek and Constantia Road was also closed for traffic on Sunday due to mudslides.

Morreesburg residents who live near the river were evacuated after 37mm of rain fell over the weekend.

ID Mayoral Committee for Economic, Social Development and Tourism, Simon Grindrod, asked on Sunday that emergency funds to help homeless people be made available by the Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool. Grindrod was to organise an urgent mayoral committee meeting to discuss the possibility of providing more aid to flood victims.

Twelve areas have been identified as possible flood risks: Kosovo and Sweet Home in Philippi; TL, CT, QQ sections and the Barney Molokwana area in Khayelitsha; Masiphumelele near Kommetjie; Lotuspark, Kanana and New Rest in Guguletu; Doornach in Table View and Gqobasi in Nyanga.

Michael Jacobs of the Red Cross said they had been handing out blankets and food parcels non-stop in flooded areas since Thursday night.

Dam levels

Water levels in Cape dams were looking good though, said Farouk Robertson, spokesperson for the Water and Sanitation Department.

The Western Cape's biggest dams - the Steenbras Dam, Wemmershoek, Voëlvlei and Theewaterskloof Dam - were all between 75% and 80% full.

This compares well to last year's levels, when the dams were 77% full around the same time.

- Die Burger

Scores seek refuge as rains wreak havoc in W Cape

Hundreds of people on the Cape Flats are taking refuge in community halls to escape heavy rains

Hundreds of people on the Cape Flats are taking refuge in community halls at night to escape heavy rains. Cape Town disaster management says they are providing food and shelter for those worst affected.

In Gugulethu last night, mainly women and children made their way to the Lusaka Community Hall for a rain-free night and something warm to eat. Angry communities are threatening to boycott next year's elections due to their horrid living conditions.

Each year, thousands of people battle to keep dry and they say they have had enough. The weather services predict more rain until tomorrow and have issued flood warnings for the low lying areas in the Western Cape. All emergency personnel are on standby.

“...at the moment more than 3 000 structures are affected and we are busy assisting the people with food and shelter but we'll also make an assessment of who's worst affected in the coming days,” says Wilfred Solomons-Johannes from Cape Town Disaster Management.

- SABC

Houses of the dispossessed

A crumbling home unfinished after seven years

Latutu Sindaphi never imagined he’d be staring at a crumbling shell nine years after being told the government was building him a home.

“My dreams of owning a house I can call my own became true in 1999, when a local councillor delivered a letter informing me that I will have a four-roomed house built at plot No 70 in NU18,” said Sindaphi.

Since the first brick was laid in 2001, house No 70 in Mdantsane, East London, remains unfinished. At least two construction companies were involved in the project. Yet still there is no roof, floor, windows or doors.

Sindaphi’s story is testament to the huge backlog in the province that Lindiwe Sisulu, the minister of housing, this week said might need the intervention of defence force engineers .

The Eastern Cape failed to use almost R500- million in funding it received from the government for housing. And Sindaphi and his wife, Ethel, who survive by making bricks at a nearby dam, have lost all hope of holding the key to their dream home.

National housing department spokesman Xolani Xundu confirmed that more than R443- million of the Eastern Cape’s integrated housing and human settlement grant — allocated by the national treasury — was redirected to Gauteng after the 2007/8 financial year because the Eastern Cape failed to spend it.

“The Eastern Cape is the only province where we had to recall funds,” said Xundu. He said parliament was concerned about the province’s poor building performance .

# The province’s housing delivery rate dropped from 37500 homes in the 2004/5 financial year to only 11000 in the 2007/8 financial year.

# According to provincial records, at least 19953 homes that the province had built are of such poor quality that about R18000 would have to be spent to repair each of them.

Xundu said parliament told Sisulu to form a task team in April to help speed up housing delivery in the province. The minister met emerging construction companies in Bhisho this week to discuss the housing backlog in the province.

Xundu said contractors highlighted problems, including corruption by government officials and late payment to companies by the department.

A project to build 2503 houses for shack dwellers in Mdantsane was launched in 2001, with 500 houses to be built in the first phase.

Sindaphi was among 628 shack dwellers who qualified for that phase. Since moving to Mdantsane in 1975, he has lived in backyards . Promises to Sindaphi by a local councillor last week that the home would be completed soon have come to nothing.

“The visit by this councillor … is to lure voters in preparation for next year’s elections,” said Ethel. “ Whether they finish my house or not, I won’t vote. My family won’t go to the polls. I don’t have any job. Why do I have to vote as if this government cares for us, because they don’t.” - The Times

Housing delivery under the spotlight on Cape Flats

Informal dwellers in Valhalla Park on the Cape Flats have appealed to authorities to speed up housing delivery.

This comes as heavy rains continue to hit the Peninsula, leaving their shacks flooded. Some are ankle deep in water. One resident, Caroline Stynder, says she was tired of broken promises by the government. She says she will only vote in the next year's general elections if she has a house.

Stynder has also challenged the authorities to visit their settlement to witness their living conditions following the heavy rains. - SABC

Disaster management tackle township floods

The city of Cape Town's disaster management has assisted hundreds of families who were affected by the spate of heavy rains on Friday, and remains on full alert.

The weather services have predicted a wet, rainy weekend, with a strong possibility of floods in low-lying areas.

In Valhalla Park's 8th Avenue informal settlement, over 300 shacks were damaged by the rain. Charlotte Powell, of the disaster management centre, said residents were receiving food and blankets.

The Red Cross also assisted with the provision of over 40 food parcels and blankets

The Red Cross also assisted with the provision of over 40 food parcels and blankets and was monitoring the situation.

Powell said around 50 dwellings in the Freedom Farm informal settlement near Belhar were damaged. Residents were also receiving the necessary supplies.

In Kosovo, the informal settlement near Philippi, many residents were busy emptying water from their shacks, and faced grim prospects over the next few days.

Mngcete Migudu, who shares a one-roomed shack with his siblings, said Thursday night's rough weather had kept the family awake.

"When you wake up, you feel the water inside, on you. Your clothes and blankets are wet. Then we have to try to get most of the water out; it's a horrible thing," said Migudu.

'You have to throw everything out to try to get it dry again'

While he understood that housing for all would take some time, he urged the government to build tarred roads in informal settlements. He believed this, with a proper drainage system, would alleviate the damage caused by floods.

Small children played in pools of water in the muddy roads, while cars struggled to navigate water-filled potholes.

Another resident, Roselene Dangaleze, appealed for plastic roof sheeting to keep the inside of her shack dry.

"It's so cold and wet. You have to throw everything out to try to get it dry again."

The South African Weather Service has issued a national warning for rough weather this weekend. Forecasts indicate rains will persist until Monday. Temperatures were not expected to rise above 15deg C; over the next few days.

Powell said the city's disaster management would remain on high alert over the weekend.

"We have our plans in place. Relief management includes moving people to emergency shelters. Non-governmental organisations are also on hand to provide food."

Wet weather is also creating havoc on city roads. Merle Lourens, spokeswoman for Cape Town traffic, said there were 14 accidents on Friday.

A taxi collided with a pole and seven people were injured.

Lourens urged motorists to keep a safe following distance and to switch on their headlights.

- Cape Argus

Tackling South Africa's land issue...

The Expropriation Bill has negative consequences for South Africa and will leave the country lagging behind successful economies, a group of concerned parties said on Wednesday.

The interim committee for the defence of property rights said the bill was based on the perception that white South Africans had no moral right to own land.

The group, consisting of organisations and political parties Agri SA, Afriforum, the Afikanerbond and the Democratic Alliance, said it would address the implications of the bill at a number of conferences in July.

Other members included the FW de Klerk Foundation, the ACDP, the Agricultural Employers Organisation and the National Taxpayers Union.

It said the expropriation of white-owned property at less than the market value was not justifiable.

"The bill is based on the false perception that white South Africans have no moral right to ownership of land in particular, but also property in general, as everything they possess is the result of wrongful deprivation," the group said. - Sapa