A violent storm system has torn through the Western Cape, claiming three lives, destroying homes, flooding informal settlements, and overwhelming emergency services across the metro. The Cape storm brought with it gale-force winds, torrential rain, and scenes of devastation that stretched from Mitchells Plain to Franschhoek — and forecasters warn the worst may not be over yet.
The Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) confirmed the three fatalities on Monday. According to City councillor Mikhail Manuel, one person died when a tree fell on a car in Kenilworth. A second death was recorded in Genadendal, also caused by a falling tree, and a third person drowned in Klaarstroom. These losses have cast a heavy shadow over a province already bracing for more punishment from the elements.
Between 6am and 9:30am alone, the City’s disaster risk management centre received over 930 calls to its emergency line. Reports flooded in from across the metro — roofs blown off in Mitchells Plain, Hanover Park, and Wynberg, live electrical wires on the ground, blocked drains, and roads submerged under rushing water. The scale of the response was immediate, but the sheer volume of incidents stretched teams thin.
In Wynberg, Yaseen Adams was at work when his roof collapsed around 9am, with his pregnant wife still lying in bed at the time. An interior wall also gave way. His neighbour was rushed to hospital after a ceiling and brick wall collapsed on him — though he reportedly suffered only a knock to the head. Adams described his home as simply “stuffed,” a word that barely captures the trauma of the morning.
By late morning, several informal settlements were under water. These included Khayelitsha, Imizamo Yethu, Nomzamo, Phola Park, Gugulethu, and Delft — communities that are perennially exposed to the brutal reality of South African winters with little structural protection.
In Philippi’s Malema informal settlement, resident Nontembeko Lawu had been awake since 3am, sending her two children to stay with relatives while she tried to salvage what she could from her ankle-deep flooded shack. Her furniture, appliances, clothing, and her children’s school books were all damaged. “It is not even June yet, but we are experiencing such floods,” she said. “Every winter this happens.” Her neighbour, Mthetheleli Peki, spent the early hours scooping water out of his shack with buckets, eventually conceding he would need to abandon it for the night.
Western Cape storm damage forces school closures and triggers mass emergency response
At Riverside informal settlement, near the Diep River opposite Parklands, the storm destroyed the three-room shack belonging to 70-year-old pensioner Thizina Sidamba. Her daughter and three grandchildren have been left homeless alongside her. Wardrobes, a fridge, a stove, mattresses, and other belongings lay scattered outside the ruins of their home as the rain continued to fall.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced on Monday that all schools in the province would remain closed until Wednesday, 13 May 2026, following consultation with the PDMC and the South African Weather Service. Early childhood development centres were also advised to close. Principals were urged to report any storm-related structural damage immediately.
Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay said the organisation had been “inundated with calls for assistance” from informal settlements across the Cape Metropole, Drakenstein, and Franschhoek. Teams are on the ground responding to severe flooding in Langrug informal settlement in Franschhoek and Lwandle in Gordon’s Bay, working alongside local disaster management authorities.
Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesperson Charlotte Powell acknowledged that the situation was “unfolding by the hour,” with damage assessments still incomplete at 3pm. She noted that some services could not carry out repairs or reinstatements due to safety concerns in the extreme conditions. “City teams are doing the best that they can, weather permitting,” she said, flagging fallen trees, flooded roads, and power outages as the primary challenges.
And it isn’t over. A second frontal system is expected to make landfall in Cape Town and the Winelands on Tuesday, promising yet more rain and disruption for a province already on its knees. For the thousands of residents in informal settlements who spent Monday night with wet mattresses, collapsed walls, and nowhere dry to sleep, that forecast is a deeply personal threat — not just a weather update.