Impact of South Africa’s April 2022 floods on women and men’s lives and gender relations in low-income communities: A qualitative study

Abstract

In 2022, South Africa faced devastating flooding which resulted in the loss of at least 425 lives and widescale destruction of property. Using qualitative methods, we describe the gendered impact of the floods on homes and lives of women and men from very low-income housing areas. We conducted 16 in-depth interviews with women, and eight single-sex narrative group discussions and with 35 women and 15 men from flood-affected areas. The women were research participants in a project that commenced prior to the floods, and the men were recruited for this study. The floods were described by many as ‘heart-breaking’, as neighbouring homes collapsed, children were swept away, and people known to them lost their lives. However, other participants asserted that the floods ‘didn’t affect them much’, before describing considerable, impact on their houses, families, possessions, neighbourhoods, jobs, and other aspects of their lives. After the initial struggle to secure their homes, and rescue family and possessions from the floods, participants were faced with extensive interruption to water supply and electricity, which severely exacerbated stress, especially for women. We describe how the impact of the flooding unfolded and largely followed the contours of gender relations, rather than disrupting them. Most women did not describe violence against women (VAW) as escalating after the floods, but for those who did, the pathway followed the impact of the floods on men’s access to the central tenets of successful masculinity, notably the provider/protector role, and lashing out response. Participants also emphasised that their lives continued much as before once the immediate aftermath of floods was past, and in so doing demonstrated significant resilience, which is not described in existing models of disaster impact on VAW.