- Flood victims in KwaZulu-Natal housed in temporary shelters are faced with dangerous living conditions.
- More than half of those accommodated at the shelters are young children.
- These were the findings of the SA Human Rights Commission following its investigation into the devastating April floods.
People living in shelters accommodating victims of the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal are being faced with worrying and potentially dangerous living conditions.
This is the finding of the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) following a probe into the aftermath of the April floods that claimed hundreds of lives and damaged infrastructure.
On Monday, the SAHRC presented their findings to Parliament.
Officials told the Ad-Hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery of the substandard living conditions in shelters for those who had lost their homes.
Refilwe Chulu, SAHRC legal consultant and project manager for floods disaster, told the committee that most people living in community shelters were women and children.
She added that more than half of those accommodated at the shelters monitored were young children.
She said:
Shelters accommodating persons in distress present worrying and potentially dangerous living conditions for the intended beneficiaries. There is an insufficient supply of mattresses. Many residents sleep on the floors. No security provisions have been allocated to the shelters monitored..
“While many affected persons sought refuge at community shelters, others sought refuge with their neighbours. If no adequate measures are put in place, many will remain unaccounted for,” Chulu said.
Many being sheltered had lost critical documentation like birth certificates and SA Social Security Agency cards, compounding the challenges.
The shelters monitored by SAHRC are located in Molweni, Tshelimnyama, Marianridge, uMzinyathi (Qadi), KwaMashu, Amaoti, KwaDukuza, Umlazi, Isipingo, and Amanzimtoti.
“School-going children are not going to school. Children are also not receiving adequate psycho-social assistance,” Chulu said.
She said that there was also a desperate need for basic living provisions.
“Most community halls are managed by community leaders affiliated with political parties,” she added.
Nearly six months after the devastating floods that killed hundreds and destroyed billions of rands in infrastructure, the government has been slow to repair and restore livelihoods.
The floods left 6 278 people homeless, and more than 400 died in the devastation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a national state of disaster had been declared and that R1 billion would be made available for relief measures.
In response to a recent parliamentary question, Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said an application from the KwaZulu-Natal government to access funds from the provincial emergency housing grant to provide 4 983 temporary residential units (TRUs) was approved at a cost of R342 million.
She also revealed that, so far, only 1 076 TRUs had been delivered.
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In the Eastern Cape, the damage was reported in the district municipalities of Alfred Nzo, Joe Gqabi and OR Tambo.
Chulu said the dependency by municipalities and sector departments on disaster grants was a cause for concern.
“There is no strategic planning for climate change. A crucial concern that has also emanated from the Eastern Cape is that National Treasury vetoed the requirements of the Disaster Management Act, having not approved reprioritisation, mainly due to the affected entities submitting requests two days before the end of the financial year, as well as in anticipation of under-expenditure from municipalities. This adversely affected the quick rollout of relief it appears, as municipalities were denied funding due to timing,” she said.
