Parts of the Western Cape were ravaged by severe weather conditions in 2024, resulting in damages to infrastructure, homes, commercial businesses and also the loss of life.

Gale force winds and heavy rainfall over the winter period caused severe flooding, prompting the declaration of a disaster for the province.

Thousands living in informal settlements in the Metro were displaced while the Riverlands community in Malmesbury bore the brunt of several dam walls bursting their banks.

A series of disruptive winds and rain lashed the province over the winter months. In April, a security guard died on a wine farm in Paarl after a tree, uprooted due to gale force winds, fell on his vehicle.

The Somerset Mall in Somerset West was closed due to blown-off roof sheeting. In Kayamandi in Stellenbosch, over a thousand people were left homeless when winds fanned a fire in the Zone O informal settlement.

A resident from the area Nosicelo Matiwane said, “It was very hard because the wind was very very bad in this area so we couldn’t even do nothing and then the fire was blowing up, so we didn’t even have a chance to take our clothes out from our houses.”

The weather system that brought the heavy winds moved to the Garden Route, resulting in flooding in several parts of George and the Little Karoo and forcing the closure of several passes, including the Outeniqua, Meiringspoort and Swartberg Pass.

Severe weather warnings up to level eight were frequent throughout the winter.

In early July, one of a series of cold fronts made landfall, causing electricity blackouts in some areas, while the communities of Wupperthal and Eselsbank in Cedarberg were completely cut off due to flooded roads.

Colin Deiner of the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre said at the time, “We have had a number of electricity disruptions. Eskom is also in our centre working with us, and they have restored 6 000 clients in the last night and currently, there are 11 000 faults across the province which are being prioritised for repair. 137 schools have been impacted and 18 schools have been closed due to flooding. In the health sector we have fortunately not had too many disruptions so there have only been some problems in False Bay hospital, electrical disruptions which have been restored and looked after. There have been agricultural damages in the West Coast and Overberg District and then we have had a vessel in distress on the West Coast. At the moment the vessel is 400m off but it has beached and the maritime safety agency are responding and dealing with that incident.”

The severe weather also resulted in the temporary closure of various public and special schools in the Metro, Winelands and Overberg districts.

In ward 99 in Khayelitsha, gale force winds destroyed hundreds of shacks, prompting intervention from national government.

Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi said, “We are having the same conversation with the Western Cape, City of Cape Town. Yesterday we held an emergency meeting in the afternoon where we looked at saying, how do we look at saying we fast track the relocation of category C informal settlements which are those that are in danger of disasters and floods in Western Cape. We got issues even of fires so what we say then they must include in their business plan reblocking so that we don’t continue to see the fires happening so there’s work that we will do continue from where we have laid the foundation.”

By mid-July, 160 000 people were affected and over 47 000 structures were impacted. A disaster was declared by national government.

In early August, the Riverlands community in the Swartland Municipality was dealt a massive blow when two retention dams burst their banks.

Water flowed through homes, wreaking havoc and misery. Over 200 homes were affected.

Flood victims, Jim Voster and Annelize Kay shared their horrific ordeal.

“It was 4 o’clock. It was looking like a bomb had exploded, that’s what happened. We were very scared because I was half in the water in the house and lucky it is only my bedroom that saved us and all of us were sitting on the bed.”

“Hours…maybe two, three, four hours but it felt like 24 hours in the water. You heard water, you saw water, it was just water everywhere. My bed saved me and my daughter, the bed tippled over maybe a kilometer and a half from my house and someone’s bakkie saved us and we sat on that bakkie for a few hours until day break and I was so glad to see the sun come up this morning.”

A probe was launched.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina, “For non-compliance with the act and associated regulations. The action will include relief of financial compensation for damage to infrastructure. The DALRRD must present a rehabilitation plan for the affected areas caused by the failure of the Dassenberg farm dams and implement in accordance with applicable legislation. The DALRRD is required to engage the Swartland Local Municipality, in an effort to make a determination on the extent of damages caused by the failure of the farm dams.”

Damages to road infrastructure due to flooding were estimated at two billion rand since the previous year.