Meeting held to voice residents’ concerns over flood-damage repairs

MOSELY Park residents are extremely frustrated with service-delivery issues in the aftermath of the April floods.

A meeting held at Woods Park and Nursery on September 24 gave residents the opportunity to list the unrepaired damages in their suburb to the ward councillor and committee members. The Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor for Ward 63, Chris van den Berg, Ward 63 committee member Lloyd Peterson, and Ward 63 committee secretary Jolene Peterson were in attendance.

Moseley Park residents explained that the suburb experienced serious wash-aways, damages to stormwater pipes and sewerage pipes and extensive road damage during the April floods. Once the flood waters receded, some roads in Moseley Park were cut off from the rest of the suburb with no viable access routes, which left residents stranded without food, water or power for many days.

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The residents said they are frustrated because, after six months and numerous notifications of faults through the correct channels, there has been a lack of meaningful communication from the eThekwini Municipality, nor any indication of when the repairs in the area will begin. A petition was handed to Councillor Van den Berg by the residents.

The DA councillor expanded on some of the reasons for service-delivery delays, the first of which is the lack of sufficient funds due to the severity of the extensive damages within the eThekwini Municipality.

A further challenge is the planning complexity of dealing with several government departments, which will each undertake specific aspects of the more extensive repairs needed, additionally having to perform their services in a particular sequence.

Ward 63 committee member Peterson said, “Some of the damages are beyond the normal expertise of the departments, and these specific issues have gone out to the tender process. The municipality awaits the finalising of these tenders so contractors can be appointed and work can begin.”

Van den Berg committed to handing the petition to the mayor’s office and reporting back to the Moseley Park residents within the week.

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Engagement happened around the possibility of temporary repairs to some of the most badly affected roads. The councillor advised residents to refrain from temporarily filling damaged road surfaces or wash-aways as this might prolong the permanent repair process, should a government department need to dig up a temporary fix before their work can commence.

The DA councillor advised residents to amplify their message to attract more attention to the state of their suburb. Van den Berg requested each resident to register every fault, as only by engaging with eThekwini Municipality through the proper channels will the resolution of the issues be possible.

A community meeting with ward committee members is planned, where residents can raise their concerns.