24 October 2023
Residents in these government flats in Wentworth, Durban, complain of broken toilets, leaking pipes, faulty electricity and cracking walls. Photos: Tsoanelo Sefoloko
Broken toilets, leaking pipes, faulty electricity and cracking walls are among the problems families face living in government flats in Wentworth, Durban.
The flats, on the corner of Lansdowne and Silvertree roads, were a joint venture housing project of the eThekwini Municipality and the KwaZulu-Natal human settlements department, at a cost of about R43-million.
Allan Holmes, a resident at the flats and ward 68 housing committee chairperson, told GroundUp that they were relocated to the 128 units in April 2010, from an area known as “the barracks”, very close to an oil refinery, which they had been occupying for about 37 years.
But their expectations of decent housing were disappointed.
“When we arrived, most things needed to be repaired. Pipes were already leaking. Windows started falling out just a few months later.
“Now we are scared, because we have a broken sewerage system, leaking baths, faulty electricity infrastructure, as well as leaning walls that have holes in them.”
Holmes said they want the municipality to immediately refurbish the flats or send them back to live at the barracks.
Many residents complain that their units are leaking and mouldy.
Community leader Elaine Pieters Aubrey says they have been in talks with the eThekwini municipality since 2010 about the poor workmanship.
“The flats were built on swampy land and that’s why most of the units are cracking. We are living in fear, because we don’t know when the flats are going to fall down,” she said.
Aliris Mallyon said she has been living at the flats for 13 years and there have been problems ever since she moved in.
“Water is leaking from the apartment above, and it is damaging my furniture. I live in a two-bedroomed unit with my three children and 61-year-old mother,” she said.
Rosemary Finn said she shares her two-bedroomed flat and small kitchen with 13 other family members. She said the windows are rusted and falling apart. She is worried about plugs not working and she says there is water on the electric cables.
One of many cracked walls at the Wentworth flats.
Ward 68 Councillor Aubrey Snyman (DA) said he has been struggling to get the municipality to refurbish the flats and to fix the sewerage and leaking pipes.
“I wish they can build a proper (building) complex, because it is clear this project is not good at all,” said Snyman.
Themba Mvubu, chairperson of eThekwini Municipality human settlements and Infrastructure services committee, told GroundUp that officials planned to visit the flats next week to assess them for repairs.
Municipal spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said that the Lansdowne housing project was built with an “alternative building system to bricks, comprising steel frame, fibre concrete board and aerated concrete”.
Khuzwayo said that a National Home Builders Registration Council had assessed the flats and identified remedial measures.
“The repair and rebuilding are reliant on funding being made available by the KwaZulu-Natal human settlements department. An application for the funding has been sent,” said Khuzwayo.