Klipfontein Mission, Crossroads residents have urgently appealed to the City of Cape Town for help, in draining stagnant water that has flooded their homes.
Since the start of the winter rains, residents have been compelled to vacate their homes, with water causing excessive flooding in and around the area.
Resident Grant Swartbooi said things got completely out of hand as water reached completely new heights, making the houses inaccessible.
He accused Ward 36 councillor Nceba Ntshweza of ignoring them. “There is nothing that our councillor is doing for us. I don’t know when last he visited us. Since we had floods, he never came here,” he stated.
Swartbooi is currently residing with his girlfriend in another section. He says almost all the shacks and houses that are along the fence near N2 are flooding.
He says they want the City to deploy the trucks to drain the water.
“Residents who are living along Govan Mbeki Road have generators and are draining the water to the Govan Mbeki Road,” explained Swartbooi. “It is difficult for us on this side because there is no spot for us to discard the water.”
Responding to challenges facing the community, Ntshweza denied the allegations that he did not care or never visited the area. He cited the claims against him as “unfounded”. He said he informed the City officials about the stagnant water.
“The problem is that the area doesn’t have a proper drainage system. They opted to install the services on their own. There is no infrastructure there at all. That is why when it is raining there’s a lot of floods because the water is stagnant.”
However, he stated there would soon be a joint meeting involving the City’s Department of Human Settlement, Roads and Stormwater and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the situation in the area.