Some of eThekwini residents will have to relocate inland as the municipality is fast becoming one of the worst affected by climate change-related flood disasters in the world, warned the city’s deputy mayor, Zandile Myeni.
However, the city faced challenges as many residents living in flood and landslide zones refused to relocate inland to safer, solid ground.
Talking to this reporter while the city and provincial government officials were still assessing damages caused by the violent weather this week, Myeni said the municipality was trying to convince vulnerable residents to shift from the coastal areas.
Durban had for the past couple of years been identified as the most prone to disastrous floods.
According to the National Sea Rescue Institute, the April 2022 floods were among the most devastating in the province’s history, resulting in over 400 deaths and massive disruptions to infrastructure, including the suspension of port operations in Durban.
City Mayor Cyril Xaba, together with Myeni and Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma, visited the worst affected areas and saw how more than 100 people were left homeless when more than 30 homes were destroyed.
Xaba said clinics and libraries were not spared. He said the city was yet to determine where to prioritise its intervention.
Those who witnessed this week’s landslide said the houses were buried.
The heavy rain left six people dead, many injured and homeless in the south of Durban areas such as Amanzimtoti, Morton, Clairwood, Isipingo, and Umlazi.
According to a report from the provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affair, mudslides buried houses with people inside.
“There are such plans (of moving people inland) but by law, a person has to consent, if the people do not consent you cannot evict them.
“However, there are many people who have come forward willing to move,” said Myeni.
Myeni, who is also the city’s Security & Emergency Services Committee chairperson, rang an alarm that eThekwini was increasingly becoming a dangerous metro to live in.
“We are among metros leading with weather disasters. Even abroad, eThekwini is one of the areas that are made referrals when it comes to how climate change is affecting the livelihood of the municipalities.”
Myeni said the municipality’s planning dictates “we need to do something because of climate change and consider things that we previously did not pay attention to when we planned”.
She said the municipality would now work with traditional and religious leaders to convince people to vacate high-risk areas.
“The truth is that when I approach people as a deputy mayor, I would not be listened to the way a local a traditional or religious leader would be listened to,” she said.
Myeni said the municipality would work with stakeholders to form a forum to discuss the matter.
“We are continuing to engage people and there are those who are complying with us to relocate. Others give us many reasons to resist including that they did not want to be too far away from their workplaces because of transport costs. But we have not stopped engaging with people,” said Myeni.
A resident of Etshelimnyama outside Pinetown, which was hit hard by the 2022 floods, said the relocation was a risk as the municipality could not be trusted to keep the promise of building new houses.
“Following the 2022 weather disaster, people are still without houses as the municipality failed to provide even a transit camp, which was promised,” said a resident.
Besides the death of more than 400 deaths in April 2022, the floods left a trail of catastrophic damage to infrastructure, including houses, roads bridges, and water and electricity resources.
Myeni said in the city, like in several other municipalities, the weather disasters posed a significant challenge. She said the municipality was working with the private sector to find ways to prevent natural disasters.
“The private sector has on many occasions approached us willing to assist, but it is just that the local government is over-regulated.
“We are still checking in terms of complying with the law a model of getting a solution,” said Myeni.
University of KwaZulu-Natal climate change expert Professor Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi warned that the violent weather would intensify.
“Some of the weather changes that we are seeing are now permanent, we are working toward halting further changes in the climate.
“We can expect the floods to become more frequent and more intense,” he said.