EThekwini Municipality commits to building houses for flood victims

EThekwini Municipality Mayor Cyril Xaba says the city remains committed to ensuring that permanent houses are built for the families affected by the recent floods.

Speaking at during an Executive Council (Exco) meeting held this week, Xaba reported that between 19 February and 15 March 2025, the recurring floods have claimed the lives of 15 people and caused extensive damage to infrastructure.

Xaba said the report received from the Joint Operations Centre indicated that 1 452 houses and 5 939 people were affected. The worst affected areas include Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, Pinetown, KwaDabeka and Lamontville.

Xaba conveyed the council’s heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased, saying that the city is working with the bereaved families to ensure that their loved ones receive a dignified burial.

“Together with the Premier [Thamsanqa Ntuli] and the Chairperson of Trading Services, Mduduzi Nkosi, we visited the affected families in Inanda and Lamontville, including those who have been relocated to family-friendly accommodation in the inner-city. As… [the three spheres of] government, we are committed to ensuring that permanent houses are built for these families,” Xaba said.

However, Xaba noted the challenges encountered in building permanent houses in identified sites.

He said the existing community members are not cooperating, either because they themselves are flood victims who have not been allocated houses, or they do not want low-cost houses in their neighbourhood.

“As the rains persist, we will continue to face the shortage of land to resettle flood victims, considering that the city has 603 informal settlements and some of them are located in flood-prone areas. Working together, we must intensify public awareness campaigns urging people not to settle in flood plains because the frequency and intensity of floods, due to climate change, poses a huge risk to human lives and infrastructure,” Xaba said.

Since 2017, the city has been experiencing recurring floods, and this has put a huge strain on the city’s water drainage system.

In eThekwini, stormwater systems are designed to handle a “1-in-10-year” storm event, Xaba said.

“Our large canals and river protection works are built to withstand 1-in-50 or 1-in-100-year storm events. In the last two months, we have been experiencing heavy downpours that we would ordinarily receive in every 20 – 40 years.

“It is in this context that we must continue to urge members of the community to dispose of waste in designated places so that during heavy rains, the same waste does not clog our drainage system and flood our homes,” Xaba said.