By Bongekile Gumede
Disgruntled 76-year-old flood victim, Victoria Mthuli, who is living in the Palmiet Informal Settlement L ‘community hall’ after her house was washed away when the Palmiet River banks broke during the April floods, said she is tired of living in a space that is not dignified.
Mthuli and five other flood victims are currently being housed in a hall built with planks, with spaces in between, and covered with light sheetings on the inside which serve no protection from the heavy winds and rainy days. The 75-year-old grandmother said the hall gets flooded on rainy days and she and the five other homeless flood victims have to cover themselves with extra blankets during the cold nights as well as during the day.
“Since we were placed here in April we have received no news on what’s happening with regard to getting new homes. We were told that we will live in the hall temporarily, however, three months have gone and we are still here,” said Mthuli.
The elderly woman said that all she needs is a space for her to rebuild her own private home as the Department of Housing and eThekwini Municipality seem to have forgotten about them.
“If there was land for me to build I would use my pension to buy material and build a home for me and my kids. Where I used to live, everything got washed away and now I have nowhere to go. I have identified some spaces nearby, however, we were told we cannot build. Those who did try to rebuild were chased out from their homes and were threatened with arrest if they build again,” said Mthuli.
She said they can’t even bathe properly since there are always people in the hall. “We do everything in this hall – we cook, bathe and sleep here in this one room – there is no privacy whatsoever. I am urging the councillor to assist me in getting a small space just for me to build a private temporary structure and whenever the municipality or the department builds a home for me, I will move,” Mthuli added.
Other victims said they were aware that there are proper community halls where victims are staying, however, they do not want to be moved from one hall to another and would rather gather what they have to build new homes than stay in this wooden structure loosely termed a ‘hall’.
Ward 23 Councillor, Alicia Kissoon, said that Palmiet L Zone Hall is an area that needs drastic intervention. “It is terribly cold and as it is a community hall, there is absolutely no privacy for the occupants which include children and the elderly,” she said.
Cllr Kissoon added that the residents have had to rely on private donors and organisations and this relief has also become scarce. “As far as I am aware, this area was identified as a floodplain and I have not been updated in regard to material nor alternative housing. A list of those affected was submitted to Disaster Management early in the process, unfortunately, victims in this hall are not recognised as being in a formal hall and getting relief has been extremely difficult.”
NPOs and residents who wish to provide relief to the flood victims staying in Palmiet L Zone Hall can contact Cllr Kissoon on 061-526-2181 for further details. The Department of Housing was contacted for comment to no avail.
