Durban — The IFP held a picket to voice their grievances against eThekwini Municipality on Thursday morning.
However, the picket was poorly attended, with no more than 50 IFP members outside Durban City Hall.
The secretary-general of the party in eThekwini, Joshua Mazibuko, said Durban was filthy and eThekwini Municipality should do something about it.
He further tabled their grievances, including the issue of flood victims being given temporary houses. The IFP said they were picketing against issues unresolved by the governing party regarding flood victims, gender-based violence, transit camps, rampant crime and unemployment.
“Durban is like a pigsty, a den of criminals. I was born and bred in this city and I am ashamed of even coming here because of the garbage that is lying around the city. Women aren’t safe in the streets of Durban; they can’t even wear their jewellery,” he said.
Speaking about the transit camps, he said it was unfair that there were people who were removed from their areas in 2010 under the pretence that they were going to be temporarily placed in certain areas and thereafter would be given proper houses. This hasn’t happened.
He said the city and the province controlled buildings which had been abandoned and were dilapidated. They should be renovated so that flood victims could occupy them, instead of being given temporary houses.
“The flood victims should be placed in the buildings that are owned by the city and the province. Those buildings should be renovated because giving people temporary houses is not a good idea as more money will be needed to get them proper housing,” he said.
The caucus whip of the IFP, Ntombifuthi Gumede, said the city was capable of employing people because of the budget it gets and that people should be given decent jobs. She added that there must be a “fair” system for people who are moved from transit camps to their proper homes.
“We proposed that people must be given numbers so that we can avoid this system of people getting houses because of connections. The system should be fair to everyone,” she said.
In a recent statement issued by Human Settlements spokesperson in the province, Ndabezinhle Sibiya, it was said the department had secured 78 hectares of land where more than 3 000 displaced people would be accommodated, adding that delays were caused by the unavailability of land.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said they were working closely with the relevant provincial departments to decrease the number of shelters occupied by flood victims.
“To date, we have closed 36 shelters due to people either being moved to TRUs or being given building materials to start over,” said Khuzwayo.
She added that the city was fully aware of people living in transit camps and it continued to do everything in its power to expedite the process for them to move to different houses.
“It must be borne in mind that the city daily has an influx of people coming to it in search of economic opportunities like many other cities.”
She said the GBV issue was a societal matter that required everyone including political parties to partner with law enforcement agencies.
Daily News