The number of informal settlements in Cape Town increases every year and living conditions are often dire.
The number of informal settlements increases every year and living conditions are often dire. One such settlement is Burundi at Mfuleni on the Cape Flats.Large parts of the Cape Flats were once wetlands. As a result, low lying areas often experience localised flooding.Mavuso Gqola is a local business man in Mfuleni. He lives a stone’s throw away from Burundi and says the conditions are unbearable.
“Even if at night if people are getting sick, it is difficult for the ambulance to get in as well as hiring transport around. They have to use a wheelbarrow to get the people out because the transport can’t go in and the clinics are full; especially with people with tuberculosis because of this situation. It’s cold, there is floods around.”“Children are sick because we are living in a dirty place, there’s a lot of disease here. We are living in bad conditions.