Hammersdale residents’ hopes of returning to their homes after April floods diminishing

Residents from the Georgedale area at Hammersdale west of Durban, whose houses were submerged after a water pipe was ruptured during floods in April, say they want to be relocated.

Ten of the twenty houses affected still remain submerged. People from the area say they are now too scared to sleep when it is raining.

#sabcnews #sabckzn Oupa Moloi says his six room house is still under water with only a roof visible. He is waiting for a temporary housing unit. His family is seeking shelter at a community hall. pic.twitter.com/o7ecjM3t2F

— Nonkululeko Hlophe (@Leko3) May 24, 2022

“Right now my house is under water as you can only see the roof. ”

Oupa Moloi tries to explain his plight as his sturdy brick house is still under water almost six weeks after the floods in April. Moloi’s home is among more than 10 homes in Georgedale that have been submerged by water from a pipe that was crushed during the floods. The affected families are still living in a local community hall. Moloi is eagerly waiting for temporary accommodation where his family of 8 can live.

“My entire six room house is under water, what is visible is just the roof. They are trying to open a pipe to allow water to flow but six weeks later they are struggling. I am praying that government build us proper houses in a safe place, that the help I desperately need, I lost everything when we were hit by floods. I had even pigs in a pig sty, they are all gone, this is the first time since 1987 we experience such a disaster. I wish I can get a house where I can live with my family again, it is difficult living in a hall.”

Some homes remain submerged over a month later:

People living next to the still submerged area are also worried.

Neliswa Bhulo and Silindile Qhashane say they wish the stagnant water can be drained.

“People are homeless, they lost everything, some have lost jobs. People are now staying in the community hall without food. Some people, who are still staying in their homes, do not have an alternative shelter. We are calling on government to find means to drain this water and fix the road.  We are calling on government to allocate a place where they can build new houses for these people as this area is not safe.”

Meanwhile, the ward councillor Sibusiso Ngcongo says they are no longer receiving food parcels for the displaced people living in the hall. Ngcongo says no temporary housing units have yet been built for flood victims in his ward.

“I had to do something for the people, we did that as time goes by. They started to come and assist, even MEC Mama Khoza was here and then she assisted with blankets and stuff, with food, however that food did not last it is finished now. We have to make means to ensure we assist our people. As for the temporal structures, in this incident none of them have arrived. The issue now is of land where are they going to be placed because we cannot put them at the same area where there is a problem. The municipality is identifying land because we also have land that belongs to the municipality, we are trying to identify that land where those structures will be built.”