Durban - The Department of Human Settlements and eThekwini Municipality have identified four properties in La Mercy north of Durban on which to build houses for people who were displaced by the floods.
This was announced by Human Settlements MEC Jomo Sibiya when delivering a keynote address at the Abahlali baseMjondolo general assembly in Durban on Sunday.
The MEC was giving feedback on the flood relief programme and his department’s plans to eradicate slums in the province, especially in eThekwini.
Sibiya said with the help of Tongaat Hulett, the land had been identified and was ready for purchase by eThekwini Municipality. Homes would be built on it for people who were left homeless by the recent floods, which left more than 400 people dead and thousands displaced after their homes were swept away.
Furthermore, the MEC said he had made a request to national Treasury to immediately release R207 million from the R1 billion which both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced would be given to the province to repair damage caused by floods.
The MEC further said his department had to reprioritise his budget to respond to the recent floods, saying the disaster struck while his department was still dealing with 2019’s and last year’s disaster, which was caused by cyclone Eloise.
He said of this year’s R4.1bn budget R397m had been ring-fenced to repair damage caused by the 2019 floods.
On the delivery of new housing units for people living in informal settlements, the MEC said his department has set aside R756m for this, adding that eThekwini has a migration problem and rapid urbanisation had contributed massively to the growing number of people living in the informal settlements around the city.
“EThekwini alone has close to 1.3 million people living in exposed informal settlements which are prone to floods, but we cannot divorce ourselves from the historical dispossession of land which brought us to where we are. Africans are the most disadvantaged in their land of birth. Black Africans also ended up being located in steep and flood-prone areas such as MaMsuthu and Molweni,” said the MEC.
He further said despite a backlog in delivering houses his department had increased its pace, having built 11 280 units compared to 10 315 built in the 2021 budget. The department also increased the issuing of title deeds, from 2 923 last year to 4 762 this year. He added that 274 community residential units were built.
Sibiya also announced that his department will need R2.127bn to be reserved in the province’s account for disaster incidents.
Currently, the province was said to have just over R350m in the contingency reserve.
The Abahlali baseMjondolo group welcomed the MEC’s visit and his update, saying they hoped that he would be able to implement his plans.
The group’s provincial leader Mqapheli Bhonono said the MEC had gained trust among the group’s members, since other leaders no longer wanted to meet the group.
“We are grateful for (the MEC) just coming to listen to us because other leaders are avoiding even speaking to us. We are also happy with his feedback on the relocation of displaced people and upgrading on informal settlements,” said Bhonono.
Daily News