Three months after devastating floods ravaged the eThekwini region, finger pointing between the provincial and national government has escalated, while the lives of thousands of homeless victims have deteriorated into squalor.
“This disaster admittedly was unprecedented, but where has the money gone? Where is the R1bn that was promised? Every time the province has a disaster the provincial government goes to National Treasury asking for a state of disaster to be declared,” said Sbu Zikode of the SA shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.
“We saw this in the July 2021 riots and now the floods. Why are people still living in temporary residential units from two years ago?”
Early this month the National Treasury told parliament’s ad hoc joint committee on flood disaster relief & recovery that of the R1bn intended for emergency relief, R87.4m has been released to six KwaZulu-Natal municipalities.
Zikode said his organisation, with a membership of 80,000 countrywide, is concerned about delays in the provision of homes for flood victims as well as general housing. They have had several meetings with the department of human settlements in the province and were told that due to the funds from the national government not being released, the provincial budgets will be reprioritised to assist homeless flood victims.
eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda handed over houses to 12 families in Inanda on Friday whose homes were washed away in the floods. The houses were available through a reprioritisation of the city’s budgets.
Kaunda said that as part of the municipality’s endeavours to fast-track the integration of flood victims housed in temporary shelters back to their communities, the city has opted to use the Umqhawe Housing Project budget to prioritise flood victims who were already linked to the project.
Zikode said that while Kaunda’s efforts are acknowledged, the bigger picture of the state of the province and its financial management needs urgent attention. “It is clear that here is no accountability when it comes to funds. There is a leadership vacuum and ineptitude. The municipality points fingers at the provincial government and the provincial government blames national government.”
But Kaunda maintains the city is doing the best it can. “We had a substantial number of people whose homes were washed away during the April floods that were already linked with this housing project. We then engaged the contractors to shorten the building period but without compromising quality. We are happy to report that more than 12 families were given keys to their homes today and they will be no longer staying in our community halls,” he added.
In April heavy rains claimed the lives of nearly 500 people and damaged public infrastructure estimated at R25bn with losses mainly to roads, rail and bridges, housing, water, sanitation, electricity, agriculture and manufacturing. Businesses suffered damage estimated at R7bn. A total of 85,280 people were affected, with nearly 7,000 left homeless.
Temporary housing
The DA says the reprioritisation of housing budgets for flood victims is not a good solution. DA KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson on human settlements Marlaine Nair said her party established that 119 provincial housing projects have been put on hold as a result of the need to reprioritise almost R516m for temporary housing for flood victims.
“The delay of 119 housing projects will only further deepen KwaZulu-Natal’s already severe housing crisis. This while it remains on the back foot, with housing projects taking an average of four to five years to complete and a backlog of 742,000 houses,” she added.
MEC for human settlements & public works Jomo Sibiya told Business Day on Sunday that his department is determined to ensure the rollout of human settlements despite limited resources and after budget readjustments.
“Today, a comprehensive report was presented detailing progress on the relocation of victims of recent floods and construction of temporary residential units. The construction of 1,810 units in all affected districts is under way. About 567 temporary residential units have been completed to date.
“In eThekwini 3,821 families are currently sheltered in 82 mass care centres. These are mainly families from informal settlements. Forty-four land parcels from the national department of public works and the [provincial department] and eThekwini municipality have been identified, totalling 78ha.”
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