Residents of Dalton Hostel in Durban claim the lack of building inspections are to blame for the decay and unhygienic conditions they have to endure.
Dalton Hostel is one of 12 hostels in the metro which are home to large numbers of people.
Several have become infamous for harbouring hitmen.
Several challenges
The foul smells from raw sewage running across driveways and heaps of uncollected rubbish hang over the hostel.
The mushrooming of shacks and hawkers in the vicinity is said to be adding to the challenges of the decaying hostel infrastructure.
Dalton Hostel, which was meant to accommodate only 1 500 residents, is now housing over 3 000 people.
The hostel, like many others, was originally built around the city to accommodate migrant male workers. It was later converted into family units.
Residents here have raised several concerns – ranging from overcrowding to water leaks, crime, and the poor management of infrastructure.
Spokesperson of the Ubunye BamaHostel, Mthembiseni Thusi says: “Lack of inspection is crucial from top municipal management right to the bottom. The municipal hostel supervisors are the ones responsible for ensuring that inspections of the hostel buildings and infrastructure are still in place. It is indeed true that in most hostels’ vicinities, there are shacks mushrooming all over the place. Those shacks cause trouble some end up dying as a result.”
Criminal activities
Thusi says the municipality’s failure to maintain the hostel also leads to criminal activities.
“The unhygienic conditions in most hostels more especially water leakages, poor drainage systems, power outages and unrepaired electricity causes people to be unsettled and misbehave.”
Concerned residents
Concerned resident, Somthetho Zungu, says the municipality has promised to improve the state of the hostel but nothing has changed.
“People were left destitute. There are women and children who are staying in an exposed building with only rooftop. We then requested assistance from municipality but to no avail. They only came once and made promises during a site inspection, but those promises were not fulfilled.”
Women living at the hostel feel their needs are not being catered for as they find it difficult to access amenities such as health and education services.
Cebisile Shezi says: “We have children, yet we don’t have clinics and early childhood development centres. When our children are sick, we cannot take them to the nearby King Edward Hospital because we are being turned away and ordered to go to Wentworth Hospital. We find that very strange because King Edward Hospital is a walkable distance.”
Upgrade
Meanwhile, the eThekwini Municipality says the non-payment of a R43 monthly rental fee by residents and involvement of illegal elements in the running of the hostel makes it difficult to provide services effectively.
Municipal Spokesperson, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, says: “So, there are superintendents that are meant to be overseeing the hostels, but their role has been overtaken by some illegal characters in our hostels which then places their lives at risk and makes it very difficult for them to do their jobs adequately. The issue of mushrooming of shacks is an issue that is plaguing eThekwini and other metros all over the country, so that Dalton area is not immune to the problem of shacks mushrooming. We are hoping that it is developed and upgraded (so that) some of those problems will be taken care of.”
The municipality says the hostel is set for a R100-million upgrade in the next three years.
