Infrastructure

1. No, the Department itself does not directly distribute flood relief items like sandbags to informal settlements in wetlands or flood-prone areas but plays a strongly supportive role to responsible structures. 

For example, The Department of Infrastructure offers the following;

• Supports municipalities: The municipalities are mandated to respond directly to flooding; for example, by cleaning stormwater drains or providing tents, plastic sheeting, and bags. The Department plays a supportive role in coordination via its regional structures, assisting the municipality concerned to package their applications for temporary structures. In addition, the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure plays a strategic role, coordinating with municipalities, enabling infrastructure upgrades, and facilitating relocations where necessary.
• Provides infrastructure grants (HSDG and ISUPG): Following heavy floods in July 2024, the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure working together with the National Department of Human Settlements relocated around 500 flooded households to temporary shelters and began identifying alternative land for permanent relocation.

They also emphasised installing bulk infrastructure like stormwater drainage in informal settlements to reduce flood risk.

It should be noted that the Emergency Housing Programme is provided for in Part 3 Volume 4 of the National Housing Code. However, following a recent change in the programme, it is important to acknowledge that the Emergency Housing Grant has been discontinued and has been replaced by the Emergency Housing Response Fund which is implemented by the National Department of Human Settlements to provide temporary relief to people in urban and rural areas who find themselves in emergency situations with exceptional housing need. The National Department of Human Settlements provides an Emergency Housing Response Fund to Municipalities to enable them to respond faster to emergencies by providing land, temporary Municipal Engineering Services and shelter. The programme includes the possible relocation and voluntary resettlement of people in appropriate cases

2. The current informal settlement upgrading projects funded by the ISUPG in the province comply with the National Government’s spending framework.   For 2025/26 financial year, the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure formally aligns with the national spending framework by budgeting substantial funds toward housing and informal settlement upgrades. However, due to the mid-year ISUPG funding cut - despite business plan approval - the intended project spend significantly disrupts compliance in practice. This is being managed going forward.