DURBAN - ACTIONSA provincial leader Dr Makhosi Khoza has given eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda seven days to tell her why the municipality had not fixed a burst water pipe at a KwaMashu house.
Khoza said she wrote to the mayor on Monday and demanded that he respond to her within seven days.
She was approached by the homeowner, Aaron Ntuli, who asked her for assistance because he had been reporting the problem since last year and had not received any help.
She said after visiting the family in ward 47 last week she was shocked to see the conditions the family had been subjected to by the eThekwini Municipality. She promised to put pressure on the mayor “who should be held accountable by the citizens”.
Khoza told the Daily News on Tuesday that she was expecting the mayor's response by next Monday. If he did not respond, she would take up the matter with the Human Rights Commission and possibly go the legal route “to force the municipality to fulfil its constitutional mandate”.
“We are concerned about the condition of Ntuli’s house especially when the country is gripped by the Covid19 pandemic. The family have been exposed to serious health risks which could have been avoided,” said Khoza.
She was aware that the city had recently admitted failing to address infrastructure challenges and conceded that it would need R12 billion to do so.
“I was also appalled to discover that houses in ward 47 still had asbestos roofs even though the government outlawed it in 2008. Asbestos causes cancer and leads to respiratory diseases. The Department of Human Settlements in eThekwini should have addressed this a long time ago. I’m aware the programme started a few years ago then stopped.”
Khoza felt that failure to address this matter was a gross human rights violation and a further entrenchment of the fact that those who lived in affluent areas were attended to and protected at the expense of the poor.
Ntuli told the Daily News on Tuesday that he had been reporting the problem to the water and sanitation unit which had not done anything to help him. He said water was flowing inside the house and had started affecting his health. He said the pipe burst last year.
“I’m living in water, you can come and see for yourself. I don’t know who to talk to about my problem now because no one was willing to help me,” said Ntuli.
Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said the mayor had not seen the letter but would respond once he received it.
He said the municipality has a rectification programme of old houses it was implementing across the city.
Daily News