Durban - Flood victims who were still being housed in community halls have expressed their dismay at the government’s slow pace of providing temporary or permanent shelter.
Melissa Morstert, 40, is living at the Queensburgh Community Hall with her husband, Waynand Morstert, 47, and their three children.
They moved into the hall in April after severe flooding in the province led to the death of more than 400 people with some people to date still reported missing since the heavy autumn rain. The torrential downpours also washed away infrastructure, land, houses and more than 6 000 homes were reported to have been destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless.
Morstert said being at the hall has had its challenges and hoped they could be assisted soon. There were about 100 people including children still living in the hall. “There is no co-ordination anymore, we don’t get food as much.
“We’re lucky my husband is working so we are able to eat, but what happens to those who don’t have people working? They go hungry. “Another issue is when people go out drinking and come back making a noise; now we must all wake up in the middle of night.
“Sometimes they even cause chaos resulting in arguments,” said Morstert. She said she had adapted to being at the hall but it has taken its toll on her emotional well-being as her family craved their own space and privacy.
“There is nothing you can do, we cook in one place and bath in one place, at least we do have privacy when bathing. “Adapting to different personalities of people is extremely hard but we fairly get along here.
“I am not complaining, I just desperately hope we can soon be moved,” said Morstert. She was not the only person feeling that way. Babalwa Dalane, 29, who also lives at the same hall with her partner, Sizwe Libuko, 33, and their three children, shared similar concerns.
Dalane said that it had become a problem when people got drunk at night and came back to the hall and became rowdy. “There are many different characters here and the fact that we have to understand and bear the brunt of some of the chaotic people, seems unfair,” she said.
“Cleaning is also an issue, others don’t want to take turns in cleaning,” said Dalane. She said they just wanted a shelter where they could settle in with their family.
“At night it is cold and sometimes it even feels like there are ghosts here, it’s scary,” said Dalane.
A few people at the hall also complained about witnessing sexual activities between some partners happening in view of others. One concerned mother said that she was worried about this act because there were children there and “can’t be exposed to such behaviour”.
Government response
The province’s social development spokesperson, Mhlaba Memela, said they were worried about the current living conditions of flood victims sheltering in community halls.
“The behaviour of some in regards to the alleged ‘sexual interactions’ is obviously very worrying and disturbing. “We are hoping that people can be moved to temporary or permanent residences soon and know that the Human Settlement Department is working as fast as it can to assist those who are still in halls,” said Memela.
On the social services being provided to victims, Memela said that sometimes the accounts from flood victims to the media conflicted with what the department received in their reports.
“As far as I know, social work services had been consistent in providing its services. “Social workers also have to attend to other cases and victims that are not necessarily part of the floods,” Memela said. “They have a schedule that they work with which means they can’t ultimately be at halls every day,” he said.
If there was anyone who needed assistance they could speak to the local community leader and they would be assisted. On the provision of meals, Memela said not only the department provided meals, but also Good Samaritans who contributed to feeding schemes at community halls.
“The problem we had was you’d find people who had left the hall coming back and also taking food when it was delivered at halls, so there hasn’t been a clear solution on how we could manage everything in that regard,” said Memela.
He added as far as the department was aware, most halls had enough food for all people in the different community halls.
Mlungisi Khumalo, spokesperson for KZN’s Human Settlements and Public Works MEC Ntuthuko Mahlaba, said flood victims should be moved out of the community halls by December.
“The December cut-off date was put tentatively during the floods disaster and relief committee meeting, involving the national Ministry of Human Settlements, the KZN Human Settlements Department, Cogta and other departments, in that those who are living in community halls have been there for too long,” Khumalo said.
“Ideally, by December they should have been moved to temporary residential units (TRUs) or permanent homes,” said Khumalo. He said the department was looking into using the Transnet-owned building, Montclair Lodge, which flood victims had occupied and had later been evicted from.
“Our department together with eThekwini municipality are yet to finalise the modalities of the proposed use of the lodge for this purpose but in principle this has been decided upon,” said Khumalo. He said once the lease agreement with Transnet has been finalised and minor preparations had been made to fix a few problems at the lodge, the plan to move flood victims would be implemented.
“The next four months to December are crucial to have this move put into motion,” said Khumalo. Khumalo said so far 52 shelters had been closed, which represented a 38% reduction in the number of people living there. He said 1 076 TRUs had been delivered with about 980 being occupied by displaced families.
However, according to the DA, only 501 people were relocated to the new houses built by the government. The party conducted an oversight visit in July, and asked the South African Human Rights Commission to urgently investigate the conditions under which people lived.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE