http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3498075

Emmaus residents fall into housing cracks

October 22, 2006 Edition 1

Fundiswa Nkwanyana

The residents of Emmaus, near Pinetown, were ecstatic to move from their shacks to brick and mortar homes, but their joy turned to misery when the cracks started to appear. And there was no water to flush the toilets.

Now the community fears their homes might collapse.

The houses were built by the Mariannhill Mission Institute after conflict with residents over land allocation. The residents moved into the houses in 1991.

But their dream homes had no water or electricity.

The residents protested, but the mission handed the matter over to the municipality.

When the Sunday Tribune visited the families recently, cracks in the walls of houses, no water or electricity and unhygienic toilets were some of the problems they cited.

“We were under the impression that our houses would last a lifetime, but I don’t see these houses lasting,” said Nicholas Pewa, a community leader.

Pewa said that when they arrived at their homes, all they found were empty boxes. No pipelines had been installed for water.

“They installed toilets for us, which we can’t flush. We have to fetch the water from taps on the streets,” said Pewa.

Most of the residents have built outside toilets because they say the indoor ones are unhygienic.

Now they are demanding proper toilets.

Beatrice Hlengwa, 74, who supports her 10 grandchildren on her pension, said, “I can’t take it any more.

“I am scared that one day the roof will blow away and the walls will crumble,” she said.

The “rush job houses” as the residents calls them, have left the community stressed as they are battling to fix the houses. “Most of us can’t afford to pay for water or lights, let alone fix these houses,” said Douglas Khumalo.

Khumalo’s house is cracking from the base and water gets in, leaving puddles on the floor.

“As much as we want to help, our hands are tied,” said Father Vincent Mdabe, Provincial Superior of the mission.

“The matter was handed over to the municipality. We will help where we can.”

Head of housing in the eThekwini Municipality, Couglan Pather, said, “We are responsible for the maintenance of the services, but not for the houses”.

Pather said council was not party to the agreement between the residents and the mission and the houses were not their responsibility.

Available at:
http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3413389

August 27, 2006 Edition 1

HUNDREDS of families were left destitute on Friday when a fire razed more
than 400 shacks at the Siyasokola informal settlement near Seacow Lake,
Durban.

And to add to their misery, most residents had to spend Friday night in the
pouring rain that lashed most parts of the province just hours later.

“The flame is a demon that has destroyed our lives,” said 6-year-old
Nkosinathi Zulu yesterday, as he scrambled for a spot under a single tent
set up by the eThekwini council for the families.

His mother, Bonisiwe Nxele, said she had thrown him out of their burning
shack. “All I have now is the clothes on my back and my son,” she said with
tears in her eyes.

Nxele said the fire had started in the early hours when one of her
neighbours had left a paraffin stove unattended.

“I was awoken by screams and next thing I saw flames in my house. I threw my
son outside and when I tried to go back and fetch my clothes, I got severe
burns on my ankle and back,” said Nxele.

She said many other families had suffered a similar fate.

“I don’t have a job and I don’t know how I am going to survive the next few
days,” said Nxele.

Community leader Nhlanhla Mbili said the heavy rain had added to their woes.

“The council said that they would put up only one tent because the last time
(they had provided tents for shelter) a tent had been stolen. Everybody
tried to squeeze into one tent. It was pathetic,” he said.

He said they were grateful to the Red Cross which had brought them blankets,
clothes and food parcels. “Without the Red Cross, many people would be
walking around naked, without food,” said Mbili.

He said the name of the settlement, Siyasokola, which means “we are in dire
need”, could not have held more true for its residents.

By late yesterday several men, women and children were hard at work
rebuilding their shacks with whatever scraps of metal and planks that they
could find.

“In December 2004 there was a fire disaster similar to this one. Somehow,
rebuilding our shacks has become a part of our lives,” said Mbili.

Asanda Miya, whose shack also burnt down, expressed her anger with tears
clouding her eyes. “Nobody cares about us poor people. We don’t have water
or electricity and when we need to use the toilet we have to go to the
bushes. When will this end?” she asked.

Earlier this month in the Kennedy Road Settlement, a 70-year-old man was
burned alive in a fire in his shack.

President of the Abahlali Basemjondolo movement, S’bu Zikode, said the
family of Zithulele Dhlomo could not afford funeral expenses and would wait
for the state to give him a pauper’s burial.

He said that after the local government department discontinued electricity
to shack settlements, many people’s lives had endangered because they used
other, more dangerous, sources of light and means of cooking.

The Durban Fire Department said from January to June they had responded to
198 cases of shack fires, compared with 209 last year.