Durban — Flood victims who were housed in Truro Hall have finally moved to new accommodation, the Msunduzi Municipality has announced.
Municipal spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said the Department of Human Settlements and Msunduzi Municipality had sourced two properties as temporary accommodation for the flood victims.
“The process of moving the 18 families to flats in Raisethorpe and Scottsville is currently under way.
“There was excitement and joy as the residents who lost their homes during the April and May floods finally moved from Truro Hall to new accommodation,” Mkhize said.
There were fears that some flood victims might spend Christmas in mass care centres despite the KZN government’s promise that all would be moved to decent accommodation before Christmas.
On December 13, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said: “We have made many strides if you consider that over 14 449 people were displaced with 4 983 left totally homeless. Seven months later, we are close to pronouncing that no flood victims will spend Christmas in a mass care centre.”
The relocation of flood victims erupted a war of words between the provincial government and the DA, in which the government accused the DA of sending people clad in DA T-shirts to block the construction of proper housing for flood victims sheltered at the Truro Hall care centre in the area of Msunduzi, Pietermaritzburg.
The DA accused the Msunduzi Municipality of having contravened the national building regulations and Building Standards Act in that no formal application had been submitted for the rezoning of the site in South Road, where the temporary residential units (TRU) were supposed to have been constructed. The DA requested that an alternative to the temporary TRUs be found urgently for the flood victims housed at Truro Hall.
The DA said an oversight visit to the Truro Hall and engagement with the flood victims revealed that they were supposed to have been moved out of the hall and on to the site on December 15, even though no services were installed at the site as yet.
Dube-Ncube blamed the DA for having “halted” its programme of constructing decent accommodation for the flood victims by sending people wearing DA T-shirts – who came on to the scene and demanded that no housing for the flood victims be constructed in their backyard.
“The DA is well aware that a land parcel to construct decent accommodation for the flood victims has been purchased,” Dube-Ncube said.
The KZN premier’s spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso, said the government had been able to relocate around 95% of flood victims. In one week alone, the government had been able to relocate 1 600 flood victims.
Mabaso said the government had also secured vacant pieces of land to build proper housing for the victims. The recent Temporary Emergency Accommodation (Tea) in Russell Street was another attempt at dealing with the problem, which is linked to securing open pieces of land.
“When the care centre in Reservoir Hills was shut down, the victims were moved to a Tea, and currently the land where their houses are to be built is being prepared,” Mabaso said.
The DA KZN spokesperson for Human Settlements and Public Works, Marlaine Nair, said the DA did not stop anything, but it was the community that had a showdown with the officials. Nair said the real issue was that building regulations were not followed and approval to build was not granted.
Nair said people could not be housed safely if correct building regulations were not followed.
She claimed the Msunduzi Municipality wasn’t following procedure.
“Not too long ago they wanted to build in Bakerville, for military veterans, on a dangerous site in spite of environmental reports warning against it. We stopped the project,” Nair said.
Last week Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla, Ward 28 caretaker Mxolisi Mkhize and chief whip Sandile Dlamini joined city manager Lulamile Mapholoba and senior management engaged with the community of Ward 28.
The aim of the meeting was to discuss the relocation of flood victims who are currently housed at Truro Hall following the devastating floods that left them homeless.
The municipality said the community raised their concerns about the land parcel for TRUs citing a number of reasons including their safety and the devaluation of their properties within that area.
Thebolla urged the community to allow the TRU construction to continue, adding that it would not be beneficial to human nature to have people staying in the hall with their families. The municipality is doing everything it can to provide human settlement services to the community.
“We urge residents to unite to restore dignity for those living at Truro Hall. By working together, we can make South Africa and especially Msunduzi a better place for everyone”, Thebolla said.
The next day, the municipality said that following concerns raised from the community meeting regarding the TRUs that will be built for flood victims staying in Truro Hall, a visit to Copesville was conducted by Thebolla who was accompanied by Human Settlements and members of Ward 28 from the meeting who were invited to view the proposed TRUs which have been built in Copesville to assess if they are an ideal temporary solution.
The municipality said that the TRUs were viewed and feedback from the viewing was expected to be provided at the next community meeting by members of Ward 28 that were present on the visit.
Daily News