April flood victims move into new facility in Chatsworth
ANC branch secretary and resident Falakhe Mhlongo at the site where 30 people, including children are living in a tent in Crossmoor, Chatsworth after their homes were destroyed in the Easter weekend floods in Durban. Doctor Ngcobo African News Agency (ANA) ANC branch secretary and resident Falakhe Mhlongo at the site where 30 people, including children are living in a tent in Crossmoor, Chatsworth after their homes were destroyed in the Easter weekend floods in Durban. Doctor Ngcobo African News Agency (ANA)
Durban - Victims of the April floods have moved into a new temporary housing facility next to the tented transit camp in Crossmoor, Chatsworth.
The 60 families were not only
given the keys to their new homes, but also kitchenware, bedding and electrical appliances.
The temporary homes consist of prefabricated units with corrugated iron roofs and aluminium windows.
The families were said to be
from the Bottlebrush community
and were displaced during the
torrential floods in April into the
transit camp.
Ward councillor Previn Vedan
said construction on the site started in August, and the victims were
able to move in this week with help from disaster relief organisation Gift of the Givers.
“They have lost their homes due
to unfortunate circumstances and
had to live in terrible conditions, including dealing with horrific weather in the tents for almost seven months,” he said.
“We were previously accused of devaluing the neighbours’ properties and were taken to court, but we won, and now the residents (people who had been in the tents) can live in dignity and peace.”
The residents are expected to be placed in a housing programme later.
Gift of the Givers project manager and technical officer Imraan Mahomed said that the founder of the organisation, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, held the April flood victims close to his heart and decided to help.
“We stuck to our concept that we were going to help the victims, and we were also able to provide them with some home essentials including food hampers,” he said.
“We were extremely happy to
see the people moving into a safer environment.”