The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma along with the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini, Philani Mavundla, visited the Johanna Road informal settlement in Sea Cow Lake on Tuesday, 24 May, to assess the plight of the displaced residents.
The residents of the settlement have experienced many challenges since the floods in April, which was further exacerbated by a major fire and the heavy rains that hit the region last weekend. At the moment, over 90 people, including 25 children, from the informal settlement are without homes and seeking shelter at the Greenwood Park Community Hall.
Dlamini-Zuma said government is working with various stakeholders, NGOs, the public sector and the City to find sustainable solutions to relocate the community. A local resident and humanitarian, who chose to not be named, said the state in which the people of Johanna Road lived in was quite shocking, as he reffered to the informal settlement.
He said: “The floods really brought to light and exposed where our shortcomings are at the City because we are now seeing the condition that the people of Johanna Road were living under.”
Community leader, Innocent Mathaba, said the situation was incredibly painful for all who were affected. “If it were your relative you would have cried when you saw the situation and that the conditions that they were living under. It was so bad and the people suffered so much. They deserve to live with dignity,” he said.
When asked about the influx of informal settlers in the region, Deputy Mayor Mavundla said: “We are the only metro here. When we do give RDP houses, they tend to rent them out and return to the informal settlement. If you look at the rate that these settlements are built and the process it takes to issue tenders, choose a location and build, by the time you finish if you are moving fast, three years will be gone. The root cause of this is simple. If you leave Durban and go to any town, what job opportunities are there for them? These are human beings who have to make a living and feed their family. They have a hope here.”
According to the provincial government, 190 people had to be evacuated due the torrential downpour at the weekend. A majority of them are being housed in community halls and tents, throughout the eThekwini.
