WHILE the rest of the country complains about the rise in petrol prices and other issues, people from KwaDube area ward 14 outside eSikhaleni are still denied the basic human rights of decent homes and working sanitation systems.
In this week’s rainy weather conditions, residents were reported to be living in filthy water, with faeces posing a health risk.
Thandi Ntshangase, a young unemployed mother of three from the area who lives in a one-room shack with her family, told the Zululand Observer she has registered for a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house and a decent toilet for more than five years, to no avail.
‘It is very difficult to live in this place; during the rainy session we really suffer and we don’t have a decent toilet.
‘We just have to hide in the bushes and it is degrading.
‘The rain then brings all the dirt to our house which is also falling apart,’ said Ntshangase.
KwaDube ward 14 councillor Mduduzi Khumalo said the area was under municipal development the process of relocating residents was taking place, while others have already received their houses and toilets.
‘The reasons these people can’t get toilets or houses is because the place has a high level of water and there are health issues.
‘The municipality is in the process of relocating everybody but very poor people are our priority,’ said Khumalo.
This is of little comfort to those still waiting, who fear they won’t survive the summer rainy season.
