Fire and Rain

Fire and flooding are the two biggest threats to the residents in Masiphumelele (Masi).  The danger is greater to those living in the wetlands.  Originally known as Site 5, Masi began as an informal settlement in the 1980s, before the end of Apartheid.  Domestic workers and labourers began squatting in locations around what became Site 5, because it was not practical for them to return daily to their “assigned” township, known as Khayelitsha, almost 40 kilometre’s away. After several forcible removals from the area, the workers prevailed and plans were made with the city municipality to settle 5,000 people on the site.

Although there is no formal census, it is widely believed that Site 5, now known as Masiphumelele, is approaching a population of 40,000.  This severe overpopulation of land intended for 5,000 residents, has pushed the poorest of the poor into the wetlands.  The shacks built in the wetlands are built side by side with no proper roads – only narrow passages wide enough for one person.  If you’re an outsider, it is not possible to walk through the wetlands without a guide.

Fire in the wetlands last May; 40 shacks burned down, fortunately no injuries.

Fires usually begin when a paraffin stove is tipped over. In May, 40 shacks burned down; fortunately there were no injuries.The flames spread quickly and engulf shacks within seconds.  Adults and children know the consequences of delay and act instantly – running for the lives, sometimes grabbing a few of their meager belongings as they flee.  Two weeks ago, another 80 shacks burned down.  The culprit was a man who had too much to drink and left his stove unattended.  Some residents wanted to kill him; in the end they settled for banishing him from Masi.

Within hours, the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Relief Management begins determining the number of families affected and usually the corrugated steel, timber, and windows necessary to rebuild the shacks are delivered to the site the following day.  The residents – along with neighbors and friends – rebuild the shacks together.  The process takes about 3 days.

Clothing distribution at the Community Hall.

Worried children watch the fire

Having lost most or all of their belongings, victims of the fire turn to the Community Hall where clothing and a few household items are distributed.  The Pink House joins with other  NGOs to contribute clothing and blankets.

During the winter rainy season, flooding is also a concern.  From May to the beginning of September, heavy rain floods the wetlands.  The labyrinth between shacks and the floors of each shack, become saturated and in many cases, standing water becomes the norm.  Roofs often leak and the water drips onto bedding and clothing and runs down the inner walls.  There is no insulation in the shacks and the majority of residents in the wetlands have no electricity.  If a family is fortunate, they will have a paraffin stove to heat the room.

Residents wait to fill their water buckets and basins at communal tap.

There is no running water, so residents share the tap at the end of the row of outdoor toilets used by those assigned in each district.  I attended a meeting where a group came together to discuss the egregious conditions Masi residents face every day.  One participant shared that statistically, there are nearly 50 people using each outdoor toilet.  Toilet paper is too costly so the residents use torn up newspaper.  It is not safe or convenient for people to leave their shacks at night, so each shack has a “night bucket” to use as a toilet.  In the morning, everyone tosses the contents wherever they can .

The shack number for toilet assignments is painted on the front of each door.

Laundry is done by hand in round plastic basins filled at the communal tap and clothes are hung out to dry on sunny days.  However, no one in South Africa seems to have a clothes dryer – clothes are hung out to dry at every household.  Similarly, virtually no one has indoor heating during the winter months.  When the winter gales blow across the Cape Peninsula the cold and damp creeps into your bones.

While fire and rain are among the biggest crises Masi experiences on an annual basis, other urgent issues are food security, overcrowding in the one primary school and one high school for the children living in Masi, poor quality of education, drugs, alcohol and an extremely high rate of teenage pregnancy.

As past history demonstrates and the future will tell, these issues form the recipe for deep anger and frustration over the daily challenge to survive.  Many strive to rise above the hand they were dealt, working to make their lives better and to improve the chances for their children’s future.  In many ways, Apartheid continues to be a deeply ingrained influence on South African communities, with separation among blacks, coloureds and whites.  Each group has their separate community with little or no opportunity for the black and “coloured” populations to choose where to live.  Most Masi residents work as domestics or day labourers in construction or landscaping because the environment and educational system do not prepare people for better jobs or professional level positions.  For most it is a generational cycle of never ending poverty and lack of opportunities.  There has been incremental change, notably in the larger cities, but in most of the country, the status quo prevails.