Latest news with #DepartmentofHumanSettlements
The South African
6 days ago
- Politics
- The South African
eThekwini residents build shacks on cemetery graves
More than 400 community members are living in informal settlements at Seaview Cemetery in Ward 64, under the eThekwini Municipality. KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, said some residents erected shacks directly on top of graves. Duma said that on Sunday, he instructed the Head of the Department of Human Settlements, Max Mbili, to work with the municipality to expedite the profiling of families living at the cemetery on Coedmore Road. He reminded residents that the democratic government under Nelson Mandela prioritised housing construction in the area shortly after 1994. 'Priority was given to families who had lived in the area since 1981. It is unfortunate that despite having relocated communities, some came back to the area and others built new informal settlements in the same area,' Duma said. Around 2000, officials relocated families from the cemetery area to new homes in Welbedacht, Chatsworth. These officials included the late KZN MEC for Housing, Dumisane Makhaye, former MEC for Housing, Mike Mabuyakhulu, former eThekwini Mayor, Obed Mlaba, and Nigel Gumede, former Chair of the Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee. Duma acknowledged that people migrate to eThekwini in search of socio-economic opportunities due to housing and land shortages, but stressed the need to respect burial grounds. 'Cemeteries are sacred places where the dead must be allowed to rest in peace. We call on communities to respect the departed soul,' he said. The Department of Human Settlements continues to engage with Ratepayers Associations regarding state-owned land where housing projects face delays. According to The Citizen , Duma confirmed that the department is conducting comprehensive research into housing needs across four priority groups: Households living on privately owned land facing eviction Households in rural or informal settlements in disaster-prone areas Households living in graveyards, such as Seaview Cemetery Farm dwellers The research will involve institutions such as the Moses Kotane Research Institute, National Home Builders Registration Council, Stats SA, CSIR, and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. While research continues, the department has identified the Greater Kokstad Local Municipality as the pilot site for the Agri-Village programme. The initiative, involving the Department of Land Affairs and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, aims to improve living conditions for farm dwellers by ensuring access to decent housing, water, electricity, roads, and socio-economic opportunities. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Eyewitness News
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Eyewitness News
5 people killed in crash on R66 in Gingindlovu
JOHANNESBURG - Five people have died in a horrific crash on the R66 in Gingindlovu, north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, including two children and three adults. Preliminary reports indicate that a Ford Ranger lost control and collided head-on with a smaller vehicle with eight occupants on board late last night. Seven others survived the crash. The accident comes after what the Department of Transport and the Department of Human Settlements has described as a relatively safe winter holiday. Spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) needs to strengthen road safety measures ahead of the last-minute rush back home by holiday goers. 'As we count down to the reopening of schools, I have mandated RTI to strengthen road safety measures.'
The Citizen
19-07-2025
- General
- The Citizen
Toddler among two killed in Kennedy Road Settlement fire
Kennedy Road Informal Settlements face persistent challenges with fires and natural disasters. Bandile Zulu and Nonhle Mbango, victims of Kennedy Road Informal Settlements fire. Image: Collage/ SUpplied/ MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma. A 19-month-old baby and a 25-year-old woman died in a devastating fire that swept through Kennedy Road Informal Settlements, destroying 122 shacks. According to officials, the blaze originated from a burning candle. The victims have been identified as Bandile Zulu, the 19-month-old baby, and Nonhle Mbango, 25, who had recently buried her father just weeks before the tragedy. Government response to Kennedy Road Informal Settlements fire KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said he engaged with Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane to coordinate emergency assistance for affected families. 'We wish to report that a roving team involving officials from the national Department of Human Settlements, the provincial Department of Human Settlements, and the eThekwini Municipality is already working out a plan to speed up the delivery of building material,' Duma said. The MEC confirmed that officials from his office have already met with the bereaved families. 'We send our deepest condolences to Zulu and Mbango families. May the departed souls rest in peace,' he stated. According to Duma, relief efforts awaited the completion of verification processes by disaster management teams from eThekwini Municipality and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). ALSO READ: 'His brother is not coming back': Heartbroken mother speaks after toddler dies in Pretoria tent fire Extended family notification Duma indicated that authorities are prioritising communication with extended family members in distant areas. 'At this stage, their focus is to ensure that extended families in Mount Frere and Umzimkhulu are properly informed about the tragedy,' he said. The MEC is working alongside Ward 25 Councillor Themba Mkhize to assist families with burial arrangements for their loved ones. Recurring disaster pattern and relocation challenges Kennedy Road Informal Settlements face persistent challenges with fires and natural disasters. 'Kennedy Road Informal Settlements are always affected by fires and natural disasters such as floods,' Duma noted. The MEC expressed concern about settlement patterns despite previous relocation efforts. Many residents who were originally relocated to alternative areas returned to the informal settlement. 'Critically, we remain worried about the fact that residents who originally lived there were relocated to the newly built houses in Waterloo and double-story homes just across Kennedy Road,' Duma stated. During a recent meeting with Minister Simelane and eThekwini Mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba, officials agreed on stronger enforcement measures. The leadership consensus focused on implementing bylaws to prevent people from reoccupying or renting shacks in the area. ALSO READ: Six-year-old Limpopo boy shot in the head by stray bullet Urban migration realities Despite enforcement challenges, Duma acknowledged the broader socio-economic factors driving the growth of informal settlements. People continue to migrate to eThekwini and other secondary cities in search of economic opportunities. 'These are realities that we are grappling with,' he said. MEC spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya confirmed the government's multi-level response to the tragedy. The spokesperson emphasised that building material delivery plans are already underway, pending final verification by the disaster team. READ NEXT: George building collapse 'was entirely preventable' – report
Daily Maverick
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
DA calls for rights commission, Public Protector to probe ‘neglect' of evicted KZN flood victims
The party also says it will table a motion of no confidence against the eThekwini city manager, the mayor and two council members after the flood victims were evicted from their Durban accommodation. 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
IOL News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
KZN Human Settlements Department unveils housing plans for disaster victims
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport Siboniso Duma details accommodation plans for those displaced by floods. Image: Supplied THE Department of Human Settlements in KwaZulu-Natal has announced detailed plans aimed at addressing accommodation for people displaced by disasters. This comes amid concerns that the department has failed to deliver on key objectives, including building disaster relief housing in a timely manner. The department revealed yesterday that it plans to renovate a building purchased from Transnet, which will provide immediate housing relief stock for those left homeless by recent disasters. Going forward, the department intends to limit spending on private accommodation for those displaced by natural disasters. Last week, 189 individuals and more than 60 families spent a night outside after being evicted from the Bayside Hotel in Durban amid a payment dispute, as the department had not paid the hotel owner. To date, it has spent R185 million to accommodate families in about six private accommodations across Durban, and it said it needed an additional R128 million to continue doing so. The flood victims have since been placed in another building after the hotel owner refused to take them back in. This incident unfolded amid growing concerns that the department was failing to deliver on its key mandates. DA spokesperson on Human Settlements, Riona Gokool, stated that the department's portfolio committee was briefed on its performance to date, raising serious concerns. 'KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Human Settlements (DHS), under MEC Siboniso Duma, has failed to meet delivery targets across its most critical mandates, despite reporting 100% financial expenditure of its 2024/25 R3.9 billion adjusted budget. Video Player is loading. 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Next Stay Close ✕ 'The damning information came to light during a recent KZN Legislature Human Settlements portfolio committee meeting, during which officials outlined the department's fourth-quarter reports and proposed Annual Oversight Plan (AOP) for 2025/26,' she said. 'The reality is that out of a total of 50 performance indicators, only 28% exceeded targets, while 36% underperformed, notably in Planning and Housing Development. This reflects a serious misalignment between expenditure and actual outcomes, raising concerns of inefficiency, poor planning, and lack of consequence management. 'Only 21 out of 410 targeted post-1994 title deeds have been registered, with zero community residential units delivered out of a targeted 270. No informal settlements have been upgraded to Phase 3 despite escalating housing backlogs, and only 540 disaster relief houses have been delivered out of 1 500 targeted units," she stated. The department pushed back on these claims, stating that the information was meant to misinform members of the public. It said, guided by MEC Siboniso Duma, that over the past 391 days, the department has delivered: 7 976 fully subsidised houses for ordinary members of communities 5 030 houses for people in rural areas 464 homes for vulnerable members of society More than 900 sites established to enable members of the public to build their own houses 1 638 title deeds registered and handed over to ordinary members of society 315 households assisted to own houses for the first time through the First Home Finance Programme. The department said it is doing significant work to deliver housing, including spending on bulk infrastructure to ensure that projects are completed on time, despite that being a municipal function. Regarding the progress made to address the issue of housing for disaster victims, the department stated that all levels of government are working together to coordinate their response to disaster relief. Part of this expenditure was the acquisition of Montclair Lodge from Transnet, which has 600 beds to accommodate flood victims. 'We have paid R33m for this facility, which will be repurposed to accommodate victims of floods. The transfer from Transnet to us took place on 31 May 2025. In other words, we will no longer use private facilities as part of the Temporary Emergency Accommodation,' said MEC Duma. It said a professional engineer will be appointed before the end of July 2025 to conduct a basic assessment, which will determine the scope of work for the refurbishment. The contractor will be appointed immediately upon receipt of the basic assessment. A minimum of R35m will be set aside for the refurbishment, while R4.2m has been made available for the basic assessment, it continued. It is anticipated that some flood victims will take occupation in the lodge during December 2025 or January 2026. 'Our plan is to ensure that we are ready for heavy rainfall and flooding associated with the summer season,' concluded the department's statement. THE MERCURY
