Durban - eThekwini Municipality’s deputy mayor Philani Mavundla says the city understands the plight of those who have been living in shelters, community halls and places of worship since the April floods.
Mavundla’s comment comes after a group of people, who claimed to be displaced flood victims staying at temporary shelters in eThekwini, invaded the City Hall on Monday afternoon and held a sit-in, demanding answers pertaining to when proper housing will be delivered.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said Mavundla had explained to the group what support the municipality had been providing to those in shelters.
He had also explained the challenges of resettling displaced flood victims in proper housing, and the process to be followed.
“City officials are currently profiling the protesters to establish if they are indeed flood victims and to determine the type of assistance they require. Since the floods in April, the municipality has been providing a range of support services to those living in temporary shelters. These include hot meals, blankets, mattresses, medical services and hygiene packs. Together with the Department of Home Affairs, identity documents have been provided to enable families to access other government support interventions, such as grants and pensions,” said Mayisela.
Mavundla said the city was already in discussions with the MEC for Human Settlements, Jomo Sibiya, to find a lasting solution to the challenge.
The KZN Department of Human Settlements’ spokesperson, Mbulelo Baloyi said all those who were moved to shelters were profiled in April and it was not possible to say when all of them will be re-homed.
The provincial government said shortly after the floods, Temporary Residential Units would be provided to displaced flood victims. However, a report tabled in the KZN legislature last week showed that very few units had been procured thus far.
Baloyi said the departments of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and KZN Public Works, along with the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and eThekwini Municipality were jointly working on the matter, to urgently attend to the plight of the floods victims.
Baloyi said challenges continued to delay the provision of housing, including that those affected needed to be housed near workplaces and amenities such as schools.
“We had earmarked the end of July /beginning of August – that all Temporary Residential Units would have been finished but since there is resistance by some communities to have government housing flood victims near them we have had to intensify our social facilitation,” he said.
Mlungisi Mgqibisa, who was part of the sit-in at the City Hall and is a member of the Msinsi SA Natives Movement, that led the demonstration, said the profiling done in April did not provide a true reflection of the number of people needing assistance.
Mgqibisa said they were tired of hearing the “excuse” that there was no suitable land for housing.
“If the city needs assistance with identifying suitable land we will help them with that – there is more than enough land in this province,” he said.
He added that the group had been transported back to the shelters and the municipality had promised feedback within 48 hours.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said: “I know there are vacant buildings owned either by the city or the province that could be assessed for possible accommodation of displaced people. It would be the easiest and fastest way to solve the housing issue brought by the recent floods in eThekwini,” he said.