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A report (view here) by the Auditor-General (AG) has revealed that 100% of a sample group of Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) inspected in KwaZulu-Natal are defective.

The TRUs form the backbone of housing delivery for thousands of people left destitute after severe floods hit the province earlier this year.

Findings by the AG include;
• Non-compliance in terms of the agreed contract specifications, the price per unit and poor workmanship

• Contractor performance not being included in weekly progress reports

• 97% of TRUs not being compliant in terms of thermal improvements to roofs

• 90% of TRU’s having timber external doors - rather than specified galvanized metal while 43% of all units had no internal doors.

• Incorrect positioning and alignment of wall panels and inadequate waterproofing and;

• Electrical connections not being included in the scope of work, with beneficiaries having to use unsafe existing services to connect electricity.

The DA has received numerous complaints about the poor quality of housing being handed over by KZN’s Human Settlements Department. It therefore comes at little surprise that so many of these units are defective.

While the Department has argued that the audit sample size was small, the fact remains that not a single TRUS inspected was up to standard.

It is unacceptable that while millions of Rands are spent, poor quality houses are being built and delivered to vulnerable citizens, which they have no choice but to accept.

These TRUs were designed to last for up to five years, during which time residents are supposed to be permanently housed. The reality is that they are unlikely to last the next major storm as a result of such poor workmanship.

This situation is aggravated by the AG’s finding that some of the units have been placed close to the same dangerous sites where houses previously washed away.

Every time shoddy workmanship is accepted by KZN’s Human Settlements Department, it costs both government and the province’s taxpayers more money to rectify the errors.

Then there is the sad reality that people who have waited a lifetime for a home, have to settle for houses that are falling apart without proper sewer, water or electrical connections.

MEC Nthuthuko Mahlaba and his Department must do better. With the already massive housing backlog in KZN, funding meant for the building of new houses cannot be used to fix poor workmanship.

The right to housing is enshrined in our Constitution. The DA will continue to fight for the rights of KZN’s most vulnerable citizens who have already endured so much.

Issued by Marlaine Nair, MPL - DA KZN Spokesperson on Human Settlements