Durban – Four buildings owned by the eThekwini Municipality have been made available to accommodate the victims of the recent floods.
ANC councillor Mzokuthoba Mngonyama revealed this during the councillors’ question and answer session in a council meeting last week.
He said the city has about six vacant buildings and four of these have been made available to accommodate the victims of the floods.
Thousands of people are still housed in community halls after the floods in April in which homes were destroyed and hundreds of people perished.
For many, living in the halls and shelters has been a traumatic experience and they have demanded to be allocated proper housing while the city and the government work to provide permanent accommodation for them.
In June, a group of residents left destitute by the floods “stormed” the Durban City Hall, demanding that the city provide them with proper accommodation.
They were led by an organisation called the Umsinsi Native movement.
They called on the city to make some of its vacant buildings available, or look at housing projects where they could be housed while a permanent solution was sought.
Between 60 and 100 community members from different areas in Durban, including Clermont, planned to spend the night at the City Hall as they complained that living in community halls had become unbearable, unruly and unsafe especially for children who were being exposed to improper behaviour from adults.