RED ALERT

People who live in informal homes made of plywood or zinc sheets in shanty towns call them ikheji yenkukhu, because these shelters are like chicken coops. This is a place where livestock live, not people. Yet more than half of Africa’s city dwellers live in informal homes and neighbourhoods, and they get by remarkably well.

Nevertheless, those forced to live in informal structures are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events: floods, urban fires, heat waves, and storms.