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DESPITE emergency relief funding being available to help more than 50 displaced people, living in squalor in the derelict Mpofana Town Hall since 2015, the local ANC-run municipality did nothing to access the subsidy.

The shock finding is revealed in a written parliamentary reply (view here) by KZN Human Settlements MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni, in response to questions by the DA.

According to the reply, the Department can fund up to an amount of R69 946.60 for a temporary structure and R169 762.32 for a permanent structure – for each qualifying beneficiary. Yet, in spite of this the municipality has not, to date, made any application of any type for assistance from the Department. The damning reply also states that;

· The Department did not receive any application from the municipality for funding from the Emergency Housing Grant municipality when the fire took place in 2015 and;
· The municipality did not submit a report to the uMgungundlovu Disaster Management Centre in line with normal practice, which requires that all cases as recorded and monitored under strict protocols of the Disaster Management Act and;

It is extremely alarming that the DA has had to expose this situation which is sitting right under the municipality’s nose. That this group of people have had to live in squalor for so long while funding is there to help them is criminal. Had the municipality followed protocol, this would certainly not be the case today.

The group was originally moved to the town hall in 2015 after the Bruntville Hostel burned down, where they have simply been forgotten. They remain there today despite having won a court case three years ago where the municipality was ordered to move them to more suitable accommodation.

This must surely be one of the worst cases of a lack of political will and incapability within an ANC-run municipality and has again exposed just how little the ANC cares about the people of our province.

Last month the DA conducted an oversight inspection of the town hall after having been advised of the shocking conditions. These include;
• Two toilets and one shower to share between the more than 50 inhabitants
• A lack of proper sleeping areas or beds, with make-shift crates being used
• Windows which have been broken for at least the past five years, leaving inhabitants freezing cold during winter
• A kitchen tap that does not close, causing thousands of litres of wasted water every month – this despite KZN being a water-scarce province and;
• Inadequate cooking facilities given that this is a hall and not designed for large-scale food preparation.

The bottom line is that the municipality is still able to request the financial aid, despite so many years having passed. This must be done with immediate effect.

In her reply, MEC Nkonyeni commits her Department to ensuring full compliance going forward and has stated that it will engage with the municipality’s Administrator as it is currently under provincial administration. The MEC has also committed to the Department’s HOD leading a delegation to meet with both the Administrator and the Municipal Management and has given the DA an undertaking that a report will be tabled at the uMgungundlovu District Development Model (War Room) which is chaired by Finance MEC, Ravi Pillay.

The DA will hold MEC Nkonyeni her promises. The steps she has outlined must be implemented without delay so that this group of people can be moved to more suitable accommodation and live with some dignity. Every day that passes is another day too long.

Issued by The DA