MWANGI GITHAHU
Cape Town - The City has announced a list of winter preparedness risk reduction measures including identifying at-risk informal settlements that are floodprone due to location or topography and moving residents to higher ground where possible.
The announcement of the measures by Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith came in the wake of questions to mayor Geordin HillLewis about winter risk mitigation in informal settlements.
The questions came from councillors following the mayor’s speech to the council on Wednesday in which he sought to counter impressions that the City and the DA do not care for the poor following recent criticisms.
Councillor Bongani Maqungwana (UIM) said the speech was “nice” but had failed to address the challenge of the coming rainy season.
Maqungwana asked: “How will flooding be prevented here in Cape Town, where our drainage systems are blocked, and what will the City do to address the plight and growth of informal settlements?”
Hill-Lewis said: “Our teams are busy with winter preparedness. As for informal settlements, we roll out informal settlement upgrades every year, but new informal settlements are the main problem. If we receive additional funding, we’ll be happy to roll out services.”
Following the council meeting, Smith put out a statement in which he said the winter risk mitigation was a shared responsibility between more than 25 City departments and external partners including the police, the NSRI, the Province, and the SPCA.
Smith said that this year, 46 settlements had been identified in a number of areas, including Philippi, Gugulethu, Delft, Dunoon, Bloekombos, Wallacedene, Macassar, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Masiphumelele and Overcome Heights.
He said the measures taken included “cleaning and maintenance of critical stormwater infrastructure in high flood-risk areas and removing invasive aquatic and terrestrial plants along key river corridors.”
Smith said that in the event of flooding, storm or fire-related emergencies, residents should phone the City’s Public Emergency Call Centre on 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.
