DA calls for rights commission, Public Protector to probe ‘neglect' of evicted KZN flood victims
The move by the party comes after the Department of Human Settlements announced it had bought a Durban building to ensure flood victims are never evicted due to nonpayment again.
On 9 July 2025, more than 150 of the victims were evicted from the state-provided temporary accommodation, the Bayside Hotel in central Durban. They were told this was because of nonpayment of rent.
They spent hours on the street outside the building with their belongings, and slept there, before being moved to accommodation in Umbilo, Durban, the next day (10 July).
'What hurts us the most is we were told they didn't pay, we were standing outside for hours (calling for help) and no one was picking up calls, we had children there, nobody gave us any attention,' one of the victims said in a voice note sent to Daily Maverick.
In a statement on 14 July 2025, councillor Thabani Mthethwa, the DA's eThekwini caucus leader, said: 'The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has written to the South African Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector to request an urgent investigation into the recent neglect of eThekwini flood victims. Vulnerable residents, many of them women and children, were evicted from shelters and forced to sleep on the streets. This is a human rights violation, and it cannot go unanswered.'
The KZN flood victims' spokesperson, Sibongile Mkhize, told Daily Maverick she is grateful to the councillors, including Sbu Lushaba, who stayed with the victims all night while making calls, along with civil society organisations which also helped.
Mkhize said that instead of the situation getting better for flood victims, it seems to be getting worse.
Mthethwa said this incident and previous challenges faced by flood victims as far back as 2022 are examples of a greater collapse of the city's leadership. As a result, the DA would table a motion of no confidence against the city manager, the mayor and two council members.
MEC for transport and human settlements Siboniso Duma said during a media briefing on 13 July that the affected flood victims were now 'living comfortably and warmly in a safe place in Umbilo'.
Duma also thanked the councillors and civil society organisations who provided food to the victims.
New building
Duma announced the acquisition of the Montclair Lodge by the Department of Human Settlements in KwaZulu-Natal. It was bought from Transnet for R33-million and would be repurposed to accommodate flood victims.
'In other words, we will no longer use private facilities as part of the temporary emergency accommodation. The lodge boasts a total of 268 rooms with a bed capacity of 600. The building is managed by the Housing Development Agency on behalf of the KZN Department of Human Settlements. A professional engineer will be appointed before the end of July 2025 to do a basic assessment, which will determine the scope of work for the refurbishment,' Duma said.
A contractor would be appointed immediately following basic assessments.
'A minimum of R35-million will be set aside for the refurbishment, while R4.2-million has been made available for the basic assessment. It is anticipated that some flood victims will take up residence in the lodge during the month of December 2025 or January 2026. Our plan is to ensure that we are ready for heavy rainfall and flooding associated with the summer season. This milestone of a government-owned transitional emergency accommodation will drastically reduce the rent paid to privately owned transitional accommodations,' Duma added.
To avoid flood victims facing eviction and other challenges in rented properties all stakeholders had decided to streamline some of the responsibilities.
'In our meeting with the minister of human settlements, Thembi Simelane, and the mayor of eThekwini, Cyril Xaba, we have agreed to review the Temporary Emergency Accommodation Policy. This will help us avoid the repetition of a similar situation faced by the flood victims at Bayside Hotel… Following our engagement with Minister Thembi Simelane, we wish to announce that the KZN Department of Human Settlements has been given the mandate to take over the administrative coordination and responsibility of temporary emergency accommodation,' Duma said. DM
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