Dear Editor,
Last Tuesday afternoon a fire broke out at a little house in Princess Elizabeth Drive, Port Shepstone. Thankfully there were few residents there at the time, so no injuries. The house was destroyed along with contents including wallets, paperwork and ID documents.
Disaster crews from the fire department and Ugu plus SAPS rescue services were quick to respond, and remained for the next four hours until satisfied that the residents were sheltered in tents with mattresses and blankets. The residents have asked me to convey their thanks for this response, and I do so gladly.
I would also like to express how overwhelmed but not surprised I was at the response to the residents’ plight from immediate neighbours, in particular the Patel family and friends, Catholic Church members and Mthoko and Phumi Mbambo from Stages Restaurant, to name a few.
Clothes and hot food were provided and residents were made as comfortable and warm in the rain as it was possible to be. The following day this continued, and I can only say how proud I am to be the councillor for ward 18 as this is the type of response I have come to expect from South Coast residents.
There is however a dark side to this story. Though the house is tiny, there were 15 people displaced, one of whom is eight years old. Rooms in this house were rented out at R750 to R850 a month each, and this without running water or sanitation!
Nor is this the only example of such exploitation either in ward 18 or others on the coast. The majority of residents have jobs, but at salaries too low for them to afford normal rentals. Had this fire occurred at night, I have no doubt that lives would have been at risk, if not lost.
There is a great deal of emphasis on the need for RDP housing that is still non existent in many areas, despite waiting lists going back 18 years in some cases. Yet there is also need for a well thought out design for low rental houses that could be made available to those who are making an honest living, but who are forced to live in conditions that exploit them.
I am not talking about blocks of flats that become slums or little boxes on a hillside, but neatly set out little cottages or rondavels, similar to many of the holiday areas that exist throughout the country. I believe that local government and the private sector can put their respective heads together to initiate such plans, before we see deaths as a result of this abuse.
Plenty of land exists on the outskirts of Oslo Beach, and there is a huge need for rental accommodation for students from FET College, as well as workers from town.
CLLR CAROLE POTTER
DA, Ward 18
