For almost five years, Kennedy Road Informal Settlement resident, Simo Lulama, has been living in fear that his house will collapse as a result of soil erosion, leaving his house hanging dangerously.
Lulama’s house was built by eThekwini Municipality in 2014 as a temporary structure before he and other residents in the informal settlement could be moved to houses, as promised by the municipality.
The house was constructed near a canal where water flows on rainy days. Lulama said since 2016, he has tried to get a hold of eThekwini’s Housing Department but has never been successful.
“I reported this to the former ward councillor and the ward committee, at that time the electrical pole had lifted from the ground. I had to cut it to prevent it from dipping into the water which flowed beneath it. A few months later, I noticed that the canal was getting bigger and the erosion was happening faster than I thought, leaving a piece of my house also floating in the air. The house was structured on top of a concrete slab with no foundation and this is creating more fear as the slab can crack at any time. If there was a foundation it would be a different story as the house would be grounded,” explained Lulama.
Lulama lives with his wife and two kids and every time it rains, they fear that the house will collapse into the canal. “The water which flows here is dirty and a health hazard for my family. The canal is deep that if a child could fall in it during heavy rains, they could drown and not be found,” Lulama added.
He said a few months ago, he made a gruesome discovery when he went to check how much the house has been moved from the ground. “I actually found a foetus beneath my house, dumped in the water. When I went to call people to come witness this, we found that the baby had been washed away by the water as it was raining,” he explained.
Lulama said the only way the problem could be fixed, would be for the municipality to construct a gabion wall or retaining wall which can prevent the erosion. He said he recently made calls to the municipality, however, the calls were not answered.
The Springfiled Weekly Gazette also contacted the municipality a week ago for comments, however, the only response received was an email asking for his house number and thereafter no communication was received from them.
Simo Lulama showing where the foundation has been exposed
