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The DA has extended an invitation (view here) to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Human Settlements MEC, Sipho Nkosi, to conduct a joint oversight at Lamontville’s KwaMathe transit camp.

The initiative comes after the DA conducted a follow-up visit to the camp earlier this week. This after DA KZN Leader, Francois Rodgers, spent two days and nights living with residents a year ago in order to highlight their shocking living conditions.

The oversight revealed that despite our ongoing calls to the MEC and his department to assist residents – nothing has changed. Instead, their plight has worsened as they live under crowded circumstances, surrounded by the stench of sewerage.

Other unacceptable conditions include:

• Ablution facilities - shared by men, women and children - with broken doors allowing no privacy;
• Toilet floors covered in faeces;
• Some toilets where, when they are flushed, sewerage flows back into the settlement; and
• Toilets surrounded by overgrowth, making them difficult to access and a haven for snakes.

It is clear that the people of KwaMathe have been forgotten by KZN’s Taliban faction ANC government.

Residents claim they have been waiting for proper housing for more than 20 years. They also claim that despite former Human Settlements MEC, Jomo Sibiya’s assurances of help, there has been no feedback from the department to date.

MEC Nkosi needs to witness the suffering of residents first-hand and he needs to take action. The DA sincerely hopes that he will take up our invitation at the earliest opportunity.

We remain committed to doing everything in our power to improve the lives of KZN’s most vulnerable citizens.

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