A brutal storm has left informal settlements battered
Peter Luhanga
- Gale-force winds lifted a three-room shack in Riverside informal settlement near the Diep River off the ground on Monday.
- Pensioner Thizina Sidamba and her family escaped moments before the roof was torn away.
- More than 227 schools applied for closure as severe weather intensified across the Western Cape.
- Displaced families sought shelter in overcrowded leaking shacks as rain and cold swept through vulnerable communities.
The crash of a wardrobe falling over woke 70-year-old pensioner Thizina Sidamba and her family on Monday morning as her shack in Riverside informal settlement near Diep River buckled in a gale-force wind.
It was just after dawn when the family was startled awake.
Sidamba said powerful winds pushing against the zinc structure caused the wardrobe to topple, and the entire wall of the shack was lifting from the ground.
Her daughter Monica and her 14-year-old grandson lifted the wardrobe upright against the zinc wall in an attempt to reinforce the shack from the inside before seeking shelter back in bed under the blankets.
But the winds soon grew stronger, she said, and the whole shack began lifting from the ground. The family again tried to hold the structure down before abandoning the effort as the roof started tearing away.
“My daughter screamed, saying, ‘Let’s get out, the house is falling.’ We escaped with the grandchildren. It felt like the world was coming to an end,” said Sidamba.
Moments after they ran outside, the shack was uprooted and the roof blown into a neighbouring yard where the family later sought refuge.
“All the furniture has been damaged by water, including the electrical appliances. The beds and bedding are soaked. We just need to rebuild,” she said.
“I can’t even cook, and I am diabetic.”
Amid the worsening conditions, she said her greatest wish was for the government to provide her with permanent housing. She said she had registered on the municipal housing waiting list at the age of 65.
“I want a house. I registered for housing in 2021. I would like to have a home,” she said.
Neighbour Ludwe Gqupu, 47, provided shelter to Sidamba and her family.
“We live like this, and I couldn’t leave her alone with the problem because she is old,”said Gqupu.
But Gqupu’s own three-room shack, which he shares with his wife and five children, had also been battered by the storm. Water leaked through openings in the roof and streamed directly into one of the bedrooms.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned that a powerful cold front would hit the Western Cape from Sunday through Tuesday, bringing heavy rainfall, damaging winds and dangerous sea conditions. Wind gusts exceeded 100km/hr in some parts of Cape Town.
The worsening conditions forced the closure of schools across the Western Cape.
Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier’s spokesperson, Kerry Mauchline, on Monday announced schools would be closed on Tuesday. Mauchline said the decision followed consultations with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and SAWS after updated projections pointed to escalating risks posed by the storm.
Mauchline said more than 227 schools had already applied for closure by Monday afternoon, while several schools had reported storm-related damage that was still being assessed.