Living conditions are inhumane, say families displaced by floods

A dozen KwaZulu-Natal families who were displaced by floods and moved to a housing facility, say their living conditions are inhumane.

The 12 families in the Emachobeni township in Inanda, north of Durban, say they are left to contend with ablution facility challenges since they don’t have water tanks to make up for the water problems affecting the township.

The families were moved to the property after the April floods in Durban last year.

Along with these families — who have varying numbers of family members — are tenants who are not flood victims. Each family is housed in a one-room cottage.

They all share three flushing toilets. Two mobile toilets have been added to the facility to compensate for the water shortages.

However, the families told TimesLIVE Premium that ablution buckets are not regularly changed, and when they are full, the sewer sometimes leaks into the yard.

“It has just been changed now after weeks of it being unchanged. Sometimes it goes months without being changed, sometimes more than three months,” said one resident.

You can’t bath or change clothes in front of the children, how can you bath in front of a 35-year old or her children? So we have to make means to accommodate each other.

—  Flood victim

“The stench affects everyone, but it’s worse for me because my room is right behind the toilet, so all that is washed or when the pipes are blocked, it comes directly to me. You have to cook and eat with this smell, so it’s bad.”

They said they were not comfortable revealing their names.

They said that while water was a challenge throughout the area, nothing has come out their taps since they moved in.

“In other households water comes and goes: with us we will be finishing a year here on December 15, and we’ve never had a single drop of water coming from these taps. We have to rely on water tankers when they deliver for the community, and if they don’t come on that day then the best you can hope for is for the next day.”

They said they used to get water from a tank on the adjacent property, a bottle store, but that didn’t last long, and they have relied on water tankers ever since.

They said municipal officials have told them to submit written complaints.

Among those complaints, which TimesLIVE Premium has seen, is that the families are scared that they may be chased out if they voice their grievances.

A 58-year-old senior citizen shares her room with two of her daughters and four grandchildren, both boys and girls.

Though she understands the issue of space is out of everybody’s hands, she said it is still an issue worth mentioning when talking about their living conditions.

“You can’t bath or change clothes in front of the children, how can you bath in front of a 35-year-old or her children? So we have to make means to accommodate each other.”

They also claim that they were informed that the city was paying R5,000 rent for each of the 12 families in a facility where tenants are only paying R400 for the same facilities. The city has since said the figure is R1,900 per family.

As the hot summer season approaches, she said they are bracing themselves for a tough time as the heat will make it harder to go up and down with buckets while they will be needing water even more. They also expect the sewer stench to get worse in the summer if ablution buckets are not changed.

The landlord didn’t respond to queries.

eThekwini municipality said it would investigate the validity of the allegations.

The city said it appointed a service provider to manage the facility and said there are water tanks and toilet facilities.

“The city has appointed Sphanabantu and is paying R1,900 per bed. There are 12 families in this facility. There are JoJo tanks and toilet facilities. An additional two mobile toilets were added to be used in case there is no water supply which is a huge challenge in Inanda.”

“Regular inspections by city officials are conducted in all these facilities to ensure that flood victims are living in good conditions. Planning processes for permanent houses are being finalised. All 12 land parcels have been purchased.”