West flood victims relocated to The Orchards

About 300 informal settlement dwellers from the west of Pretoria will be relocated to land owned by the Tshwane metro in The Orchards, Akasia.

The dwellers were affected by recent flash floods in the area and those in need.

Tshwane MMC for Human Settlements Abel Tau said this came after two weeks of engagements with community leaders in Gomora, Malusi extension 1 and 2, and the newly established Booysens extension 4, both in the west of Pretoria.

“My team and I committed to these community engagements to find a lasting solution for affected residents,” Tau said.

His department was currently verifying beneficiaries.

“We expect the relocations to start in two to three weeks,” he said.

Tau also committed to engaging with the community of Andeon, also west of Pretoria, about the development of Andeon extension 37.

“We are fully committed to ensuring that all affected residents are relocated once more land has been acquired and properly prepared for allocation,” he said.

Last week, Tau said it was fortunate that the informal dwellers were willing to be relocated.

He further said a dam was at the centre of the informal settlement.

As a result, he said, the dam usually overflowed when it rained.

ALSO READ: Flood victims demand date of relocation

He also said it was fortunate that it was an area where people could not be washed out, adding that about 23 families were housed in a hall in Transoranje and had since been able to rebuild their lives.

“There is work that needs to be done to make sure that storm water drains and roads are better built,” Tau said.

Residents of the Booysens extension 4 settlement were relocated to serviced stands by the Tshwane metro in 2018, from the Gomora informal settlement.

Speaking to Rekord, they said they moved to the area for better services but had not seen any improvement.

“We did not put ourselves here, the municipality put us here,” said a resident.

One of the residents, Rachel Kekana, said they realised that the area was problematic when they were relocated in 2018.

Kekana said they noticed that every time it rained, some of the water rises.

“Sometimes the children sleep on the floor. This is very dangerous because sometimes we are fast asleep when the rains start.”

Kekana said she has had to change the furniture in her house several times because it was damaged by the rainwater.

“The furniture we moved in with here was destroyed by the rains. We had to buy new furniture because every time it rains, water floods the house.”

Another resident, Johanna Mhlongo said she woke up one evening and her whole house was flooded with water.

“Every time it rains, we start panicking. The only time we feel safe is winter because there’s no rain. I would be the first one to move if offered the chance.”

SOUNDCLIP: 

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram