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OR Tambo District Municipality was the hardest hit region in the Eastern cape floods.
Tensions are running high in the OR Tambo District Municipality after the closure of a mass care centre that was sheltering flood victims. Some of the displaced victims were left destitute after the floods. They are more vulnerable now and they are uncertain about their future.
They accused the OR Tambo District Municipality of not consulting them before relocating some of the victims to a municipal hall.
One of the victims, Nelani Fana, demands the municipal officials come and address them.
“I have noticed there is no communication between us and our leaders. This makes it very difficult to know what’s actually going on. Like now, we don’t know how these people were removed from this centre,” says Fana.
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The municipality is adamant there was proper consultation.
Communications Manager, Ncebakazi Kolwani explains, “As we all understand, them being housed at the Anglican Church was a temporary arrangement. The church requested to make use of the church and we could no longer keep them on the premises. For that reason, we consulted and engaged with them, we told them they are going to be moved to a different space.”
According to Kolwani, the people who are protesting against the move are not the people who stayed at the church.
“However, people who were not sleeping in the mass care centre, who were only coming during the day to get beneficiation in the context of meals and everything else that was given the victims, seem to be having a problem because they will no longer be able to get the benefits, which will go to the people housed in a different mass care centre,” he adds.
The displaced residents are worried the municipality’s decision to relocate them to the municipal hall is a ploy to exclude them from the temporary housing units.
Zoleka Zwelibi and Maweza Jwaqa say they are homeless and are uncertain about their future.
“I do not have a home. My house collapsed. After water got into our houses on the first day of the floods, we stayed in the streets waiting for the water to subside, but when I checked my house the next day it had collapsed. I was not shocked because I was used to rainwater getting inside my house when it rained,” says Zwelibi.
Another woman told us, “I had a home and it collapsed and all my belongings were destroyed in the floods. I am now homeless and very sad. I wish they could quickly provide houses for us because we stay with relatives and that’s not nice at all.”
The OR Tambo municipality has assured the victims the relocation does not affect their eligibility for temporary housing.
Kolwani says, “It doesn’t mean that the prioritisation that was done as per the list for beneficiation in the housing programme is going to be changed. Anyone who was due to benefit and get a temporary housing unit will get it as per the initial arrangement, whether they are in the mass care centre or not. We are going to be making provisions for the homeless. Our priority will be made for the elderly and other vulnerable groups like people on chronic medication. We are going to take a phased approach in despatching or allocating the temporary housing units to people.”
Construction is underway at the Maydene Farm, where the displaced flood victims will be relocated to.
