January 5, 2006
By Tammy O'Reilly
THE City of Johannesburg has stepped in to assist families affected by floods that washed away 34 homes in the Diepsloot informal settlement on Wednesday morning.
The heavy rains that fell over the city for two days caused the banks of the Jukskei River, in the north of Joburg, to burst on 4 January. About 400 families were affected and, for the time being, the City is housing and feeding them at community centres in the area.
The City's disaster management unit, the housing department and the provincial department of social services are jointly co-ordinating the relief efforts.
Acting City Manager Sibongile Mazibuko and emergency services chief Audrey Gule visited the scene to evaluate the extent of the damage and found that most of the shacks affected were built along the flood line.
One of them belonged to a young mother, 28-year-old Michelle Makgalefa, who was washed away with the torrent of water. Her body was recovered 100 metres from her home a few hours later by the Emergency Management Services (EMS).
City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the City is doing everything it can to assist the families but has also urged members of the public to avoid building structures on the flood line.
Residents are also urged to report any illegal land invasions on the emergency connect number 011 375 5911.
The City has a number of housing initiatives in the pipeline to speed up housing delivery, including the relocation of informal settlers to proper housing in areas in Soweto as well as a plan to formalise all informal settlements by the end of 2006.
"This means [the City] will make sure that by the end of this year all the informal settlements have the basics like sanitation and water," says Modingoane.
The mammoth housing plan features the issuing of title deeds, the tarring of roads and assigning street names to improve access in informal settlements, fencing, and updating the housing waiting list.
The City is calling on residents in the informal settlements to add their names to the list so they can eventually benefit from the City's housing initiatives. Currently there are 209 000 households waiting for council housing.
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