Elderly people and small children are among those still living in community halls in KwaZulu-Natal after the floods in April. One municipal official blamed ‘construction mafias’ for delaying plans to build temporary residential units for the homeless.
Elinah Shandu, 68, is one of dozens of elderly women who are still living in community halls after devastating floods swept through parts of KwaZulu-Natal, especially around Durban, in April.
Shandu suffers from arthritis and high blood pressure. She has been living in the Tshelimnyama Community Hall, about 23km west of Durban, since the house on the hillside she shared with nine children and grandchildren collapsed, leaving them with only the clothes on their backs.
More than 60 people, including children as young as three, are living here. They have no privacy and, with the hall’s broken windows and doors, it is bitterly cold inside.
The April floods destroyed roads, bridges and homes and displaced tens of thousands of people. At least 460 died and another 80 are still missing.
Some who lost their homes found shelter with friends and neighbours, but thousands more have been forced to live in halls, churches and community centres.
The government had promised to provide temporary housing…