Family endures three-year wrangle with Ugu
An Ugu reservoir overflow damaged their yard, but no one seems to care.
SOMEONE out there has the answers to what really happened to a file containing details of a claim against Ugu District Municipality which has exasperated a Uvongo family for years.
It has been almost three years since they first lodged a complaint with the municipality to fix their property which had been damaged by an overflow from a reservoir up the hill from their home.
Khalipha Ntobe said the family woke up one morning to find their yard had virtually become a swimming pool.
She contacted Ugu and was told it was as a result of negligence from one of Ugu’s employees who had forgotten to close a valve.
However, the problem persisted and they were then told that it was due to rusty or worn out equipment. They should put their concerns in writing.
“When we took the letter to Ugu, we were told that a claim would be filed with their legal department and processed.”
Alas, nothing happened and the family was sent from one department to another.
“Eventually, I went to see the municipal manager, DD Naidoo, who again refererred me to their legal department.
“I spoke to Melanie Olivier who promised to get back to me after a week, but did not do so.
“I have since tried to get in touch with her, but was told she was attending an Ugu event.”
Last week, Ms Ntobe went to Ugu and told them she would not leave until she got answers.
“The woman who assisted me sent an email to the insurance people. However, a reply came back saying that our file had been misplaced and that they were waiting to find out where it was.”
Ms Ntobe said she was now concerned that claims against Ugu would lapse after three years.
“We’ve had to use our own money to fix a portion of the driveway as we couldn’t even access our home.”
Ugu spokesman France Zama responded: “The house was indeed affected by a washaway caused by the overflow of the reservoir. The municipality filed this issue with the insurance company, but without luck.”
Therefore, they had now undertaken to build a special retaining wall which would solve the problem within the next three months.
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