The City of Cape Town’s is taking a long time to respond to all incidents of local flooding.

That’s the concession of Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis who sought explain that this is due the severity of the recent storm and the heavy rains that fell over a short period of time which he says the municipality is not used to.

The heavy downpours caused flooding in a number of areas, mainly informal settlements. He says several hundreds of people have had to be evacuated. In Dunoon, some people living in the Rivergate area had to be relocated as they are located in floodplain. He says these areas are not fit for habitation.

The floods have yet again pushed the spotlight on the need for decent, proper and affordable housing in Cape Town. Hill-Lewis says it’s an age-old issue and suggested that the problem is unlikely to go away.