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‘We just sleep with one eye open’ — living on the edge of the Jukskei River, battered by storms

‘We just sleep with one eye open’ — living on the edge of the Jukskei River, battered by storms
Peace Maruleke stands in front of his home in the Setswetla informal settlement, Alexandra, a few days after extreme rainfall caused the Jukskei River to flood, bringing water into his home. The green residue on the blanket that covers part of his informal dwelling is from when the river rose. 8 April 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
Julia Evans and Felix Dlangamandla
By Julia Evans and Felix Dlangamandla
9 Apr 2025
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In recent weeks, Johannesburg, like much of the country, has endured torrential rains and devastating floods. Bridges buckled, roads crumbled owing to potholes and gardens disappeared under rising waters. For Patience Nxumalo and her neighbours in Alexandra, it has meant sleeping with one eye open as their homes cracked and flooded.

Patience Nxumalo woke up at 1am in February to the sound of her wall cracking, with her child shaking her awake.

Her house, metres from the Jukskei River’s embankment in Alexandra, was cracking, as rain poured through the now two significant cracks in her wall.

“My kids woke me up and said, ‘mom, the house is falling’,” Nxumalo recalls. She and her two children, along with two grandchildren, had no choice but to rush outside, waiting in the rain until it stopped. “You can’t knock for someone at night,” she explained.

A few weeks later, on Sunday, 6 April, her house made of brick walls with a corrugated iron roof held by wooden barriers, collapsed completely. She moved her family out two days before.




Nxumalo had been living in that house in the Setswetla informal settlement in Alexandra township since 2019. The house started showing cracks in 2020 due to persistent rainfall, which worsened over the years. The heavy rains in February exacerbated the damage, leading to the eventual collapse of her home a few days ago.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) told Daily Maverick that while they don’t have data from before 20 March 2025 for Johannesburg stations due to technical challenges after the recent cyberattack, the Johannesburg Botanical Garden weather station recorded a total of 75.6mm between 20 and 31 March, which they said is above normal rainfall during this time.

For context, 50mm of rain or more can quickly overwhelm drainage systems, leading to flash floods in urban areas. In informal settlements and low-lying areas, this amount of rain can cause widespread flooding, damaging homes and infrastructure.

Nxumalo, who lived in the house with her two children and two grandchildren, said she was very worried the house would collapse on her family but couldn’t move out for weeks because she couldn’t afford to rent anywhere else. She moved her furniture and clothes to the corner opposite to where the hole developed, elevated on top of her bed.

The Jukskei River, notorious for its pollution, flows through Alexandra on 8 April 2025. Unreliable service delivery and litter contribute to its filthy state. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Jukskei Alexandra flooding rain This is all that was left of Patience Nxumalo’s home in the Setswetla informal settlement on 8 April 2025, two days after weeks of heavy rain. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)


Sleeping with one eye open


For the past few weeks, Joburg, along with other parts of the country, has been heavily hit by extreme rainfall and flooding, with bridges flooding and bending, potholes popping up more and more on roads and gardens flooding.

It wasn’t just the “bah, bah, bah” of rain hammering their corrugated iron roofs that kept them awake at night, but the very real possibility of their homes collapsing around them. As Nxumalo explained, they slept with one eye open, constantly watching for any sign of movement, ready to evacuate their children at a moment’s notice.

“We just sleep with one eye open. We wait for the movement… We’re checking [constantly] so that the kids are safe.

“If there’s anything that is moving, then you wake up your kids and move to the other side.”

Eventually, after many sleepless nights, last week Friday (4 April), a neighbour offered her a room and she and her family moved out with belongings that weren’t too badly water damaged. Two days later, her house collapsed.

“Somebody called me saying, ‘Your house has collapsed’, and then I rushed back… I found everything down like this,” she said, gesturing at the rubble.

She added. “I said, ‘Thanks God because I'm out’ – if you’d found me inside, I’d be dead by now, and my kids.

“I was worried about my kids – if [the house] collapsed on top of me I wasn’t going to worry, but what about the kids? Because they have a future for tomorrow.”

Her children are now staying with friends. She’s grateful they’re safe, but unsure what comes next.

“Every year you are living in a dangerous place, and you don’t have a place to go, so we don’t have any choice.”

She added that nobody is doing anything about the issues they face.  “Especially in Setswetla, we are not recognised. They [the government] don’t recognise us, I can say that,” she said.

The heavily polluted Jukskei River, which flows through Alexandra, on on 8 April 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Buildings just metres from the Jukskei River’s embankment show significant damage after being hit by heavy rainfall and flooding. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



The Jukskei River flowing through Alexandra in Johannesburg on 8 April 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Peace Maruleke, who has lived in Setswetla for four years, is even closer to the Jukskei. He said that when it rains heavily and the river floods, the water runs into his home, and he uses metal sheets to keep the water out. He has also put a plastic tarp, held down by bricks, on his roof to stop water leaking inside.

The green residue staining the blanket covering part of his dwelling is a testament to the river’s reach.

He said it’s a problem for him when it rains, but like everyone there, he just doesn’t have a choice, he shrugged. “I don’t have a choice, there’s nowhere to run to.”

Like Nxumalo, Maruleke feels he has no choice. Shrugging, he says simply: “I don’t have a choice, there’s nowhere to run to.”

Nxumalo applied for RDP housing in 1996, but her hopes have long since faded. “I can’t wait for the government to do things for me,” she said. Instead, she places her faith in her children. “My hope is for my kids to do well at school and get a nice job.”

Nxumalo used to work at the Gautrain, which crosses the river not far from her house, as a cleaner, and volunteers as a community patrol officer. But since her contract ended work has been scarce. A huge rat scuttled behind her. She said she is used to them by now, and has been bitten twice. 

Despite everything, she finds solace in her community. “You know, it’s life,” she says. “If you don’t have a life with your neighbours, who’s going to help you?”

Storm-damaged buildings close to the Jukskei River’s embankment on 8 April 2025. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)



Peace Maruleke in front of his home in Alexandra’s Setswetla informal settlement on 8 April 2025, a few days after extreme rainfall caused the Jukskei River to flood, bringing water into his home. The green residue on the blanket that covers part of his informal dwelling is from when the river rose. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)


A disproportionate impact


Professor Adesola Ilemobade at the Wits School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, explained to Daily Maverick in February that when heavy rainfall hits Nxumalo’s home, urban development exacerbates flooding in areas like Alexandra. 

Hard surfaces prevent rainwater from being absorbed into the ground, leading to increased runoff and overwhelming drainage systems. Informal settlements, often located in low-lying areas downstream, bear the brunt of this.

Read more: Severe weather warning — heavy rain, flooding risk across Gauteng, North West, Free State

Paul Maluleke, co-founder of the Alexandra Water Warriors, a community-based environmental organisation, is acutely aware of the dangers faced by those living on the banks of the Jukskei. Since 2021, the organisation has worked to clean and restore the river, promote sustainable waste management and empower residents.

Read more: Pollution trap gives Alexandra Water Warriors a new weapon in fight to clean up Jukskei River

The Water Warriors have established an early warning system to alert residents to impending floods, using WhatsApp groups to disseminate information. They also run educational campaigns to raise awareness of the risks of living near the river. Despite their efforts, many houses remain in precarious locations, desperately needing relocation.

Maluleke’s colleague, Ruben Mothomoholo, a community coordinator, knows these dangers first-hand. His own corrugated iron dwelling collapsed last year, and he is forced to elevate his belongings on crates when it rains.

As Daily Maverick has reported, while it is difficult to attribute individual weather events to climate change, the scientific consensus is clear: anthropogenic climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  projects a 7% intensification of extreme daily precipitation events for each 1°C of global warming.

The World Weather Attribution group, for example, concluded that human-induced climate change doubled the likelihood of extreme rainfall events like the one that hit KwaZulu-Natal in 2022. This means that events of this magnitude are expected to occur twice as often in our warming world.

As these events become more frequent, it is those living in informal settlements like Alexandra who will continue to bear the brunt. Poor drainage, inadequate housing and precarious locations combine to create a perfect storm of vulnerability.

As Nxumalo waits for the government to help, she says that “here in Alexandra… it feels like you are nothing at all”. DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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