Van Riebeeck Park shelter abused women and children heavily impacted by floods

Puleng Sekabate

The recent heavy rainfalls have caused a lot of flash floods that resulted in devastation for residents.
Tshegofatsa Rona Welfare and Community Organisation, in Van Riebeeck Park, is one of the places that were heavily impacted by the floods on February 18.
The welfare is a shelter that provides a safe space for abused women and children. According to the founder, Cynthia Dinalane, the welfare houses over 40 women and children, all of whom were left in anguish after the damage caused by the rainfall.
The home was badly damaged and lots of much-needed supplies were lost when the house flooded.
Dinalane said everyone at the home is traumatised by the ordeal as one minute they were closing doors for what first seemed like normal rain and the next they were watching appliances and clothes floating in pools of water.
“We noticed water seeping through the front door and before we knew it, the water was gushing inside,” explained a distraught Dinalane.
“We picked up the toddlers and infants who were playing on the floor while others tried to block, redirect and sweep out the water that proved pointless as the water kept pouring in.
“I suggested that we take the children to one of the bedrooms but to our shock, the bedrooms were also flooded as the water had gone through the garage and into the other rooms as well.”
Dinalane said that once they had moved children to a much safer place, they then tried to save items but couldn’t as the water came in hard and fast.
“In no time the water was knee-high and we were shocked to see our freezers floating in the water. The water just kept pouring in through the front and out the back damaging anything in between,” related Dinalane.
“I called Anuska Engelbrecht and told her what we were faced with and she immediately came. Our neighbour also heard the screams and rushed to assist us to remove what we could.”
The Van Riebeeck Park resident said they also received assistance from CPF and SAPS members. The extent of the damage caused by the flooding was realised when the rain stopped.
“When we tried to remove and drain water from the kitchen cupboards and drawers in the bedrooms, they just collapsed. Clothes were buried in the mud outside,” recalled Dinalane.
“As the water levels kept rising, we switched off the main switch as the water was going into the plugs. We were without electricity the entire weekend as every time we tried to switch it back on it would trip. When the plugs were unscrewed from the walls on Saturday, we found water, they drained as much as they could.”
The advice was to allow for the walls and plugs to dry up and only switch on the main switch on Monday to avoid further trips. Efforts were done to try and unblock the nearby stormwater drains and redirect water from the house as there were fears of another storm.
Dinalane said they lost all of their much-needed supplies.
“We lost our food when the cupboards collapsed. I had just collected a donation of nappies earlier in the day and felt defeated when I saw the same nappies floating in the water,” shared an emotional Dinalane.
“Our beds, mattresses and blankets were soaked and stress mounted as to where would the women and children sleep. Fortunately, we had people open their hearts and assisted us by accommodating some of the women and children for the weekend.”
The children were unable to attend school on Monday.
“The children’s school bags were soaked, the vehicle to transport them is damaged and most of us caught the flu which is among the reasons why the children were unable to attend school.
“I tried hard to save some of the school uniforms. I am still in shock of it all. The children are traumatised, when they returned on Sunday and saw clouds gather, they kept asking, with fear in their eyes, ‘Gogo, is it going to rain?’
“We were fortunate to have community members bring in donations of clothes and food. We received a lot of baby clothes. The help we received with the cleanup was also amazing, we truly are humbled and appreciate the help we have received from the time of the flooding.”
Dinalane runs the home from her pocket and relies heavily on donations and they lost the little they had with the flooding. Although they have been receiving funding they are still in need of assistance and appeal to the community to help with anything possible.
Items needed include food, blankets, mattresses, clothes, formula milk and nappies.
No injuries were reported due to the flooding.
To donate or for more information contact Dinalane on 073 778 4665.