Durban — Four years later, eThekwini Municipality built 18 houses out of the 343 required for the R99 million housing project in Inanda, north of Durban.
The slow pace of building has irked residents who have been on a waiting list for years.
In a report released by eThekwini Municipality’s Human Settlements and Infrastructure unit this week, it stated that the professionals Gabhisa Planning, SLB Engineering Consulting and Stedone Civils headed the project and that it was approved for Stage 1 in November 2015 by the Human Settlements and Public Works MEC for an amount of R6 576 668.
The report stated that Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Spluma) approval was granted on March 25, 2021. The approved layout plan has 343 residential sites, two worship sites, a community facility, and a school site.
“The housing typologies are 291 free-standing houses and 52 double-storey semi-detached row houses. The Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) Tranche 2 was R99 991 779.82.”
For years the City built only one house under this project. Last year, after being granted the deadline extension by 18 months, they built more houses, now totalling 18. They have six months to complete the rest of the houses.
In the report, the municipality outlined challenges of overcrowding, obstructions, and a shortage of suitable land for housing development.
According to the report, the municipality stated that the project was extremely dense with informal and substantial structures, and excess beneficiaries. “The servicing of sites was very slow due to the above-mentioned challenges.”
“Some excess beneficiaries would be accommodated in the Namibia phase 2 development, which was still at the planning stage where a high-density housing development approach would be explored.”
Approval for Spluma was expected in early 2025.
The report said the planning department undertook the land identification process to accommodate the balance of the excess beneficiaries. The report said there was no suitable land available for housing development. Greenfield projects (Amaoti Greater and Cornubia) at the planning stages were identified to accommodate the excess beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, affected residents at the Namibia Stop 8 project in Inanda were concerned about their safety. They claimed to have been waiting for their houses since 2019.
A resident, Wendy Mkhize, said she lives with nine family members in a mud house near the project area.
“We have been waiting for one house to be completed so that we can move in. I am the only one who works menial jobs from time to time at home to sustain us, but it is very difficult. There are very few houses in this area – around 10 in total.
“We are afraid for our safety and the safety of the kids that play around the construction site. There is also an increasing number of snakes in the area as they are constantly digging at the site,” Mkhize said.
Another resident, Thabo Khumalo, said he was concerned they had been left behind by the rest of the residents who were moved into other housing projects.
“The houses that we live in are in bad condition. We are concerned if we will ever be moved into the housing project after it has taken so long to complete. There are also very few of us here and it is growing unsafe. The 18 houses that were built were broken into as well,” Khumalo said.
DA ward councillor Zamani Khuzwayo said he and other ward councillors visited the area this week and they were unanimous in ruling that the project’s completion was long overdue.
“We went for an oversight inspection and noted that only 18 houses were built,” Khuzwayo said.
“There were gravel roads and the total number of houses to be built in the next six months is 285. The question is after R25 million spent and only 18 houses later, will they be able to complete the project in time?
“None of our questions have been answered by the project managers and the biggest question, of what has been done by the total cost of R99 million for this project, is unanswered,” said Khuzwayo.
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