Non-governmental organisation Amnesty International South Africa on Tuesday described South Africa’s response to major and seasonal flooding disasters as “patchy and piecemeal”, with not enough done to prepare for such events.

This is based on the experiences of people living in informal settlements documented in Amnesty International’s latest report ‘Flooded and Forgotten: Informal Settlements and the Right to Housing in South Africa’.

The report documented interviews with experts and practitioners in the field and a review of reports, laws and policies, and evidence, said Amnesty International SA executive director Shenilla Mohamed.

The report examined incidences and the impact of floods on residents of informal settlements and underserved areas in South Africa, particularly in Johannesburg, eThekwini and Cape Town.

Mohamed called for more urgent government action to deal with increased risk of flooding, stating that government was “failing the millions of people trapped in underserved areas”, particularly with economic hardships.

Mohamed pointed out that informal settlements in South Africa along with other underserved areas such as temporary relocation areas, were a “sore” reminder of the racial injustice and disenfranchisement that were hallmarks of the colonial and apartheid regimes preceding 1994.

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

She noted the recent floods in June, in the Eastern Cape, which she said had been a stark reminder that urgent and long-term action by the government was needed.

The floods caused the death of over 100 people and washed away the homes of thousands of people.

“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,” she said.

Mohamed also pointed to the KwaZulu-Natal 2022 floods, with displaced people who were still in temporary emergency accommodation in poor conditions nearly three years later.

She said this indicated 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 are alarmingly poor or absent,” she explained.

This as the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements, in a response to Amnesty International, dated October 30, asserted that “informal settlements are not planned settlements and inherently their establishment would not be preceded by the availability of basic services".

Mohamed countered that South Africa remained bound by constitutional and international obligations to provide essential services to all residents, including those living in informal settlements.

Amnesty International's report noted that the lack of access to adequate, well-located affordable housing in the country had also led to the growth of informal settlements in floodplains and low-lying areas which meant that people living there were increasingly impacted by flooding.

Click here for the full report.