About 229 people displaced by floods in Lamontville this month, will be permanently relocated to land owned by eThekwini Municipality in Hammarsdale.
This emerged during an assessment visit conducted by Thembi Simelane – Minister of Human Settlements, joined by Siboniso Duma-
MEC of Transport and Human Settlements in KwaZulu-Natal and Cyril Xaba, eThekwini’s Mayor.
Simelane’s two-day visit to the province is aimed at prioritising sustainable housing solutions to ensure the wellbeing of displaced residents. As part of this commitment, interim services such as water and sanitation will be installed to ensure temporary sites are liveable.
Cyril Xaba, Executive Mayor of eThekwini said “it is important to indicate that flooding during heavy rains is related mainly to the size of the storm event and the capacity of the stormwater systems as well as the nature of the debris carried by the stormwater into the stormwater systems. Therefore, we are constantly pleading with both residents and businesses to dispose of waste in designated areas.”
He said stormwater systems in eThekwini are designed to cope with a one in ten-year storm event flow at critical points.
Therefore, the recurring floods need to be scrutinised against the existing capacity of infrastructure built.
Xaba said the City has introduced several projects to cope with flooding, such as the Sihlanzimvelo pilot Programme, where the City maintains approximately 500km of streams in high risk areas.
The City is also revising flood lines to incorporate the projected climate impact of a 15 percent increase in rainfall intensity.