Publications
Partners
- Heavy downpours at the Joburg informal settlement in Komani, Eastern Cape, means residents have to sit on the roofs of their shacks and wait for the rain to stop.
- More than a year since devastating floods in February 2023, those who are yet to be relocated say they have been forgotten.
- In the series On The Road, News24 is traversing the country to gauge South Africans' feelings ahead of the elections.
Bathini Tebeka, 49, has to sit on the roof of his family's shack whenever it rains in Komani.
His task is to watch the rain and alert the rest of the family if the water levels rise too high.
And when the worst happens, the men in the family must lift the rest of their relatives onto their backs and shoulders because they too have to sit on the roof until the rain stops.
Tebeka said: "There is no sleep for us when it rains. We are scared the water will come in and leave us without a home."
This is the reality for most residents in "Joburg", an informal settlement in Komani in the Eastern Cape.
The area is another ANC stronghold and Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane's home region.
Also, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa can be seen on at least two billboards in the township, beaming over heaps of rubbish residents dumped.
It is arguably one of the filthiest areas the News24 On The Road team has visited.
But most locals are not bothered by the rubbish. Their most pressing concern is flooding.
It has been more than a year since heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in Komani, with the Komani River overflowing and displacing hundreds of people.
Residents had to be evacuated, and some were later relocated.
The devastating floods lasted for nearly two weeks, and the body of a woman who was swept away by the floods was later recovered by a search and rescue team.
ON THE ROAD | No water, toilets and electricity but Lourierpark occupiers hope they can call it home
Some of those left behind told News24 they are still grappling with flooding in the area. They feel they have been forgotten.
The group is desperate to move to dryer land, and the rains that poured in Komani this week have heightened that desperation.
The informal settlement is only a stone's throw away from the Komani River, which floods when it rains heavily.
The last flood happened in February 2023. According to residents who spoke to News24, although the flooding had not been as severe as the 2023 disaster, in Joburg, shacks flood regularly.
Tebeka moved to the informal settlement in 2020 to be closer to his work.
He said he hoped to be relocated soon.
Ntsikelelo Ndinisa, 49, who has been living in the informal settlement for more than 20 years, having moved from Ntabethemba, said life in the informal settlement had changed dramatically over the past few years.
He works as a taxi driver at the nearby taxi rank.
"When I arrived, we didn't have floods; we lived peacefully until the floods disrupted that. Our shacks flooded, and we lost everything," Ndinisa said.
He explained that the first group of people had relocated to an area called JJ and that he was keen to join the group.
"My main reason for moving here is because I wouldn't have transport to go to work. I moved to the township; I came back when we were told we would be relocated. But we were told that we were on another list.
"The floods hit again this year, but it wasn't a big disaster even though the water did come into our shacks.
"Whenever we get these warnings that it will rain for days, I have no choice but to abandon the shack and go and squat with friends for that period," he said.
Ndinisa said due to their unresolved housing crisis he was unsure if he would vote.
He said:
He added that the high crime levels in the area added to their woes. Break-ins were a regular occurrence in the area.
"We get knocks at night ever so often, and when we don't open, our doors are kicked in," he said.
According to Ndinisa, the municipality had promised to relocate them in early 2023, but no one has followed through.
He said the ward councillor "checks in", but that is where it ends; nothing concrete has come from the check-ins. "No one comes here," he added.
The residents also said they had lost their IDs and that their electronic appliances were damaged in the floods.
ALSO READ | City of Johannesburg 'actively working' to address flooding at Marshalltown fire victims' settlement
Aphiwe Dliso, 31, has been living in the informal settlement for three years. He is also desperate to be relocated elsewhere.
Dliso, however, cast aspersions on the process used to select those who had been relocated
"The only reason living here is no longer the same is because of the floods," Dliso said.
He said the selection process for those who had been relocated was questionable.
"People who were only here a short while were relocated, whereas we had been living in flooded shacks," he said.
He added:
Dliso said their efforts as a community were also in vain.
"We have tried to mobilise as a community, but I think people are tired now because our names are added to numerous lists, but there is no way forward, and no one is helping us. They have forgotten about us," Dliso said.
