Flood victims in KwaZulu-Natal have reiterated appeals to government to fast track the delivery of houses for displaced families. Earlier this month, Premier Sihle Zikalala said that over 8 500 houses were totally destroyed in the April and May floods.
Over 13 000 houses suffered partial damage.
NGOs and private donors continue to spearhead efforts to provide relief. The Sokhela family in Wyebank west of Durban lost all four of their children when their house was swept away by heavy rains.
Mmeli Sokhela was among the recipients of a new house, built by the local business community.
“I lost four children. I’m now left with only their mother. it was going to be nice if we were moving into this house with them. The community helped a lot in retrieving their bodies. Government authorities still have a lot of work to do. People who are in the halls are suffering a lot.”
KZN government has built 70 homes
EThekwini municipality Deputy Mayor Philani Mavundla says so far, just 70 houses have been built in the Metro by government in the last two months for flood survivors.
“Ourselves as eThekwini municipality, we haven’t built a single one. But we are fully aware that as late as Thursday last week, KwaZulu-Natal government in eThekwini they have put up 70 units. The housing is not the responsibility of the municipality. It is a responsibility of the national government which then is pass over to the province. When we build these houses as a municipality, we doing that as an implementing agent. It is not fully our responsibility. When the province and the national give us the mandate to do that we will do it with our eyes closed.”
Water rationing
