Asthma tenant battles to breathe in neglected council flat

A CHRONIC asthma sufferer living in an uninhabitable flat in Kenneth Gardens council housing estate is despondent with the eThekwini Municipality, which is yet to act on his requests to fix his flat.

The resident, who asked not to be named, said he was given the flat to rent because of his medical condition, but when he and his wife and two small children moved in, the flat was filled with rubble and a maggot infested fridge left behind by the previous tenant, which he had to remove at his own expense.

What was left was a shell of a flat, with concrete flooring, unpainted walls, rotten door frames infested with borer, windows without handles and a broken toilet, which he had to fix.

“We contacted the municipality when we arrived to ask if they knew what condition the flat was in. I have gone from one person to the next to try have something done. We had to paint the walls and door frames ourselves to make it look a bit better. But the floors are bare and attract dust, which plays havoc on my asthma and we have been freezing during the winter months,” he said.

As the windows in his bedroom don’t close and there are open air vents on the floor, the draft gets in and affects his chest. He is forced to step outside when his wife sweeps as the dust affects his breathing. He said the family had battled during winter because of the cold, and he had been admitted to hospital because of a chest infection.

“I wake up at 1am and I can’t breathe and have to use my nebuliser. We have paid our rent every month to the municipality for the past six months and have been in contact with them but nothing has been done. An official from the municipality did arrive one day to inspect the flat, but left as I was not home. I am angry though, as he didn’t let me know he was coming or inform me that he was at my flat so I could get home. My rent is the first thing I pay every month and we expect proper services. All I want is the floors fixed and new door frames put in,” he said.

Mrs Canham, another resident who has been helping her neighbour said they had made numerous attempts to get the municipality to sort out the problem.

“The flat is uninhabitable, it is totally unacceptable. Is this how the municipality works? I think they told the resident to just move in because they were afraid vagrants would move in if they saw a vacant flat, but six months down the line they have not done anything. Nicole Graham was aware of the problem, and the new councillor needs to come see what we are dealing with,” she said.

Ward 33 councillor Mmabatho Tembe, said former ward councillor Nicole Graham had informed her of the problem.

“Nicole Graham had escalated the issue to the officials in the municipality and said it was unacceptable that it was taking so long to be attended to. I will investigate the matter and take it further,” she said.

No comment was received by eThekwini Municipality at time of going to print.