Hill-Lewis signs a major incident declaration to deal with rain and flood damage.

By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has signed a major incident declaration to unlock additional resources and relief measures to deal with the impact of heavy rainfall and strong winds that lashed the Western Cape.

Heavy storms and torrential rains battered the province over the weekend, resulting in significant damage due to flooding, mudslides, rockfalls, fallen trees, and damage to buildings and infrastructure as well as the disruption of services.  

At least eight people have been killed in the city due to the severe weather, while more than 1000 households have been affected by the storms. 

Areas badly affected include the Helderberg area (including Sir Lowry’s Pass Village), Sandvlei Macassar, Strand, Somerset-West, and Gordon’s Bay. 

Hill-Lewis says work is underway to assist with recovery, offering humanitarian relief, and reconstructing and rehabilitating affected areas. 

“I wish to thank all members of the public and organisations who have donated food items, clothing, and other items as part of the community response,” said Hill-Lewis. 

Meanwhile the Western Cape provincial government said it will ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to deploy engineers from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to assist with the rebuilding of bridges.

Western Cape Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said on Tuesday they first need to do damage assessment before calling for a national disaster.

“I can confirm that the president did call the premier and offered some help, we will discuss writing to the president to ask that the SANDF engineering department, if they can be released to support on the SANRAL roads so that we can fix the roads as quickly as possible.”

Western Cape Education Deputy Director-General Alan Meyer says 16 schools have been closed due to storm damage.

“We have had about 16 schools that have requested to be closed, largely due to damage at schools and roads that have become inaccessible particularly in the rural areas. Districts affected includes Cape Winelands, Overberg and Eden areas.

“We have 152 schools that have been damaged. In total we have 242 schools that have been affected by the storm, this includes low pupil attendance at schools.” 

Climate Change

President Cyril Ramaphosa meanwhile has urged the world to do much more to tackle the issue of climate change with more speed and urgency.

He used his weekly newsletter on Tuesday morning to reflect on the catastrophic floods in Libya that led to the passing of more than 15,000 people.

Ramaphosa says this catastrophe in Libya is a reminder of the extreme vulnerability of developing economic countries to the effects of an ever-changing climate.

“Many other countries on the African continent are just as vulnerable. Despite carrying the least responsibility for global warming, Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world.

“I have just returned from the United Nations General Assembly in New York where climate change was a major focus of discussion. There is growing concern that the international community is falling significantly short on meeting the goals contained in the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

“While the nations of the world agreed in Paris in 2015 on urgent actions to limit global temperature rises and mitigate the impact of climate change, the effects of climate change are being increasingly felt with greater ferocity,” writes Ramaphosa.

The President says developed countries that promised to support developing economies as they transition to low-carbon, have not been forthcoming at the scale and with the urgency that is needed.

“Among other things, wealthy countries have not provided the promised finance that vulnerable countries need to adapt to climate change and to cover the cost of the loss and damage caused by climate disasters.

“To galvanise governments, businesses, financial institutions and civil society towards greater climate action, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened a Climate Ambition Summit on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly last week.

“By emphasising ‘ambition’, the UN Secretary-General was saying that not nearly enough is being done to tackle climate change and that there is insufficient urgency,” he adds.

Ramaphosa says South Africa used the summit to reiterate the long-stated position that developed countries must fulfil their obligations and honour their past promises to developing economy countries.

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