Gift of the Givers is starting their relief operations in Saldanha Bay on Thursday, with hundreds of structures submerged in rainwater in the Middlepos Informal Settlement on Wednesday. This is as floods were reported in several are in Cape Town and surrounding areas.
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“Gift of the Givers teams have been inundated with calls for assistance since the early hours of this morning, as torrential rains continue to wreak havoc across the Western Cape,” said Gift of the Givers’ Ali Sablay.
The organisation’s Ali Sablay said teams were called by the Saldanha Bay Municipality and West Coast Disaster Management to assist in Middlepos.
This is before teams return to the Cape Town metropole, specifically Lwandle and Nomzamo, where it says nearly 1,000 people were affected by the adverse weather conditions. Teams also received requests for assistance in Khayelitsha, Du Noon, Mfuleni, Gugulethu, Philippi, Philippi East, Mitchells Plain, Chris Nissen Park, Macassar, and Nyanga.
The organisation said it would be providing relief in the form of hot meals, blankets, warm clothing, baby care products, essential hygiene products and other emergency supplies.
Sablay said teams are ready to respond to further calls for assistance.
He added that teams are on standby to be deployed to the Garden Route.
“Our teams are also on high alert in the Garden Route, where further heavy rainfall is anticipated in the coming hours.”
But for now, teams will be on the ground to assist victims affected by Wednesday’s downpours.
“We continue to assess conditions on the ground and are committed to delivering urgent relief to affected communities with speed and compassion,” said Sablay.
This article has been updated with additional information.
