Flooded and forgotten: unveiling the plight of South Africa's informal settlements

The government’s inability to provide the millions of South Africans living in informal settlements access to quality housing and essential services is compromising their well-being. 

Amnesty International South Africa, a non-governmental organisation, said this in a report released recently.  

It said many of these people living on flood-prone land are routinely left to their own devices, especially during severe weather conditions, even though the main responsibility for preparing for and responding to these disasters lies with the government.

Amnesty International South Africa’s report Flooded and Forgotten: Informal Settlements and the Right to Housing in South Africa examines the incidence and impact of floods, both large-scale and seasonal, caused by heavy rain, on residents of informal settlements and underserved areas in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg, eThekwini, and Cape Town.

This report documents the experiences of people living in informal settlements and other underserved areas in South Africa. 

“Informal settlements in South Africa, along with other underserved areas like temporary relocation areas, are a sore reminder of the racial injustice and disenfranchisement that were hallmarks of the colonial and apartheid regimes preceding 1994, says Amnesty International South Africa executive director, Shenilla Mohamed. 

“However, this does not mean that we must ignore the fact that the ongoing housing crisis and the failure of successive governments to guarantee the right to access to adequate housing, among other human rights,” 

Mohamed said the government is failing the millions of people trapped in these underserved areas, especially in a time when economic hardships and poverty are rife.

“People live in informal settlements because there is a lack of affordable and accessible formal housing, and sometimes because they are the only affordable means of living close to work or work opportunities.

"Article 10 of South Africa’s Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, is clear that everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected, no matter who they are.”

Call for more government action 

Amnesty International SA says the recent floods in June 2025 in the Eastern Cape province, which caused the death of over 100 people and washed away the homes of thousands of people, were a stark reminder that urgent and long-term action by the government is needed.

It says that while South Africa’s Disaster Management Act and National Disaster Management Framework aim to reduce the risk of disaster, there is ample evidence that not enough is being done towards this end. 

Based on the experiences of people living in informal settlements documented in Amnesty International’s report, interviews with experts and practitioners in the field and a review of reports, laws and policies, the organisation said evidence shows that South Africa’s response to flooding disasters – whether major or seasonal– is patchy and piecemeal, with not enough done to prepare for such events. 

It says that, for example, people displaced by KwaZulu-Natal floods in 2022 are still in temporary emergency accommodation in poor conditions nearly three years later, thereby indicating a lack of preparedness for recovery efforts.

Some of those displaced died after they were relocated to an area that was severely flooded in 2025, highlighting a serious failure to ensure that flood victims are relocated to safety. In the case of seasonal flooding, the support and assistance that many residents of informal settlements experience is alarmingly poor or absent, it said.  

Although the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements, in their response to Amnesty International, dated 30 October 2025, asserted that “informal settlements are not planned settlements and inherently their establishment would not be preceded by the availability of basic services”, South Africa remains bound by constitutional and international obligations to provide essential services to all residents, including those living in informal settlements. 

“The reality, as documented in Amnesty International’s report, is that millions of South Africans living in informal settlements are deprived of these rights due to central government neglect, under-resourced municipalities, and poor urban governance, not simply because their settlements are unplanned,” Mohamed said.

“The lack of access to adequate, well-located affordable housing in South Africa has also led to the growth of informal settlements in floodplains and low-lying areas, which means that people living there are increasingly impacted by flooding.” 

Climate change impact

The organisation says human-induced climate change has also exacerbated the risks of flooding, already a seasonal problem in South Africa’s informal settlements and underserved areas.

As elsewhere in the world, this means that people who have contributed the least to climate change due to their low consumption patterns and are least able to cope with flooding are the worst affected by the impacts of climate change, it adds. 

According to it, one of the main concerns expressed to Amnesty International in all three metropolitan areas was that the regular seasonal flooding of informal settlements and underserved areas was rarely seen as warranting a disaster response by the municipalities.

The residents were simply left to fend for themselves and rely on charitable organisations. 

A woman from Freedom Park in Johannesburg said: “We have no help from anyone, we have to stay and fix it, we can’t run away … where will we go?”

Human rights obligation

Amnesty International SA says the country has a plethora of laws and policies on issues around access to housing, provision of essential services such as water and sanitation, upgrading of informal settlements, a healthy environment, and preparing for and responding to disasters.

It is also a state party to all the major international and regional human rights instruments, including the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees the rights to access adequate housing, water and sanitation. 

Mohamed said: “Despite South Africa having strong legislation and policy and clear international commitments, as with so many other things in this country, implementation remains the issue. 

"The reality points to obvious failures of the government to adequately and thoroughly realise these obligations, and this comes at a huge cost to the human rights, lives and livelihoods of millions of people,” 

The organisation says the South African government must provide access to adequate housing for people living in the country and commit to upgrading informal settlements with access to essential services in a manner that complies with human rights law and standards, including through budgetary and policy commitments.

It must also mobilise all the necessary human, financial and technical resources to ensure that disaster risk reduction is fully integrated into urban planning processes and these are implemented with a view to protecting residents of informal settlements from disasters, climate change-related or otherwise, and protecting their human rights, Amnesty International SA said. 

DHS Response

On Thursday, the Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane says she has noted and welcomed the recently published Amnesty International report titled “Flooded and Forgotten”. 

She said the report touches mainly on the increase in informal settlements and the right to housing in South Africa.

Among other things, she says the report delves into related issues such as the country’s apparent lack of affordable housing and the upgrading of informal settlements.

According to Minister Simelane, the report confirms the enormity of work to restore people’s dignity through the delivery of sustainable human settlements.  

However, she said the assertion that “informal settlements are a manifestation of the failure of successive governments in South Africa to guarantee the right to adequate housing among other human rights” is unfortunately inaccurate.  

“Redressing the imbalances of the past cannot be achieved overnight. The democratic government has provided decent shelter to millions of deserving and qualifying households. From 2021 to 2025, we have invested over R15 billion in the upgrading of informal settlements.

"Between 2025 and 2028, we plan to spend just over R14 billion on over 4000 various informal settlements upgrading projects across the country. This shows our commitment to bettering the lives of those living in informal settlements”, said Simelane.

It is worth stating that the constitution enjoins us to “take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources…” to provide access to adequate housing. While the government might not have provided adequate housing for all qualifying beneficiaries, its resolve to do the latter has not changed.  

However, this will be done in accordance with the laws and policies of the republic. Double-dipping attempts, land invasions, and lawlessness impede housing developments in the country. Moreover, the “not-in-my-backyard” attitude has been one of the obstacles, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, to providing permanent shelter for the flood victims.

Several projects have responded to people’s housing needs across the country. These include KZN’s Kanku Road, Pilgrim X, Cornubia and Bhambayi, Gauteng’s Riverside View and N2 Gateway in the Western Cape. This is a clear indication that flood victims and residents of informal settlements have not been forgotten.

“We are a caring Government that fully understands the plight of those in need of adequate housing. We shall never turn our backs on those in need. Restoring people’s dignity is our mandate. We dare not fail”, concluded Simelane.

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