Durban - GOVERNMENT ministers yesterday provided building material to the residents of the Dakota Beach informal settlement in Isipingo following a devastating fire that destroyed more than 350 shacks and displaced more than 800 people.
Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, and her Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs counterpart, Thembi Nkadimeng, visited the area yesterday.
They said the assistance to be offered to residents included humanitarian aid and the replacement of ID documents, adding that the long-term goal was to build permanent housing for the fire victims.
Kubayi said the department had taken over the disaster-management response duties from April 1 in terms of emergency housing.
“This fire that caused 800 Dakota informal residents to be displaced falls within our jurisdiction. The affected families have, as of today, received emergency building materials provided by the three spheres of government. Organisations such as Gift of the Givers, Al-Imdaad Foundation, Red Cross, Toyota, PDMC, and Sassa have provided humanitarian aid to the victims.”
Kubayi said all spheres of government should understand that the interventions that were needed included both short-term humanitarian aid and long-term intervention, which was permanent housing.
“Dakota settlement is one of the oldest informal settlements. From reports that we are getting from the City, there is an engagement to move the Dakota Beach informal residents to permanent housing. Land has been identified, unfortunately it’s 23km away and another piece of land is 30km away. Community members have raised concern that it will be far from where they are working. So we will be trying to identify land that is closer. Suitable land for permanent housing in eThekwini has always been a challenge.”
Nolusindiso Juqu, the mother of a Grade 8 pupil, said she had lost everything in the fire.
“We lost all our clothes and all our belongings. My daughter is in Grade 8 and all her school uniforms, school books and stationery were destroyed. It breaks my heart that there was nothing that we could do to save our stuff. I am hopeful that we will be helped, especially my daughter with her school things.”
Nonkululeko Sibisi, a mother of five, said she lost her ID and her children’s birth certificates in the fire.
“We tried to save things but we could not as the fire was spreading rapidly. My ID document was burnt in the fire, my kids’ birth certificates were also burnt in the fire. I collect child support grants for my children and all the cards were destroyed in the fire. I simply don’t know how I’m going to replace all the documents we lost.”
Minister Nkadimeng said they would help displaced community members to replace their lost amenities.
“Humanitarian support to the affected community will include assisting with lost amenities such as school uniforms and ensuring the provision of paperwork from Home Affairs.
“All the teams have been put in place to begin the process of registration of beneficiaries, and people who have lost documents in the fire will be taken care of. The Department of Social Development will provide social workers to provide psycho analysis, where necessary. It is our responsibility to bring together all sister departments to assist where necessary.”