/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The DA calls on KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Human Settlements MEC, Sipho Nkosi, to provide an urgent update on eThekwini’s R46 million Lansdowne housing project which remains uninhabitable despite being launched in 2008.

The call was made in the form of a Motion tabled by the DA in the KZN Legislature last week after desperate pleas from the community for assistance and a damning parliamentary reply to our questions on the matter (view here).

The 128 sectional title unit project was launched by then President Thabo Mbeki in 2008 for residents of the Tara Road housing development, known as the ‘Barracks’ - a sub-economic project situated close to the Engen Refinery.

Due to the potential danger to residents of the ‘Barracks’ they were moved to what was supposed to be safer accommodation in Lansdowne. This with a contribution of R15 million from Engen.

Despite the move, residents have been living under unbearable, dangerous and inhumane conditions since 2010.

Some of their complaints include;
• broken sewerage pipes, leaking baths, faulty water meters and faulty toilet systems (view here)
• poor water and electricity infrastructure with electrical plug points and lights that don’t work (view here) and;
• leaning building structures, structurally unsound staircases and leaking roofs.(view here)

The DA’s calls for an update on the project come after the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) last submitted a report in 2014. This after KZN’s Department of Human Settlements entered into an agreement with the Council to conduct a forensic, engineering assessment on the project.

Almost a decade later, the recommendations made have never been implemented by the department. This common thread of compromising on quality of workmanship and refusing to deal with outstanding housing issues can be seen all across our province.

Seven years later, in 2021, eThekwini’s Human Settlements department requested that the provincial department again appoint an engineer to conduct an on-site assessment to update the 2014 NHBRC report. It also requested a maintenance plan going forward. Despite this, nothing has changed.

The residents of Lansdowne have not only had to deal with structural issues. They were also initially promised ownership of their units free of charge to compensate for their move. After moving in they refused to sign the agreements until construction failures had been rectified and the units were liveable. Later, they were informed that they had to pay rent.

The DA has consistently pointed out that the budget is not the problem within KZN’s Human Settlements department – instead, it is the ANC’s poor governance. The ANC does not care about the residents of Lansdowne. If it did, the problems they are facing would have been dealt with more than a decade ago.

The DA expects MEC Nkosi to act with urgency. Lansdowne’s ongoing defects and maintenance issues must be dealt with and closure brought to the project. This development has already cost government far more that initially budgeted, yet the issues remain.

KZN’s current housing backlog stands at more than a million while the department continues to produce houses that are dangerous to live in.

Those who continue to wait for a home of their own have little hope of realising their dream under the current government. They have a choice when they go to the polls in 2024 - to vote for an ANC government that continues to fail them or to vote in a DA government that will ensure proper service delivery.

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