OVER a month ago, the earthquake-like tremor felt by communities in the south of Durban and as far as Westville North, left many in a state of panic.
Caused by an explosion at Engen Refinery on Tara Road in Wentworth, the Friday morning, 4 December, occurrence brought the topic of an emergency evacuation plan back to the fore.
Feelings of claustrophobia and despair reverberated as residents took to social media, and others calling radio stations to inform and find out what had happened.
Photos and videos were taken and shared on all platforms online, as the news was spreading and the rest of the country learning of what had happened.
Over the course of December, environmental organisations assisted in mobilising the communities of South Durban to knock at the refinery’s doors for answers.
While pieces were being picked and normalcy drawing in slowly, it would be the residents of block 10 on Weist Road, who would subsequently bear the brunt.
Although no word from Engen about their investigations, speculation points to the explosion as the cause of the debris that landed on top of the roof of a flat on the block that caught alight.
Eleven-year-old Kiara Manuel, now lives to tell the tale through the physical scars and bruises on her body. Her grandmother, Jennifer Wilson, is left with nothing but the clothes on her back. Stressed and hopeless, her voice carries a strong quiver of desperation.
Leading the SUN back into what is left of what she used to call home, an emotional Wilson took a step back to pause and reflect.
“This used to be my home,” she finally uttered. “They want us to take our furniture out the flat, but I’ve got nothing left, everything was burned. I and all the other families are not getting any answers from them, so what happens now? Before the furniture is removed, even though I have nothing, Engen needs to come out to address us.”
According to the families, the Engen representative recently told them that they could not communicate through him anymore.
He advised them to speak to them through ward 68 councillor, Aubrey Snyman, who, however, allegedly told them that he had nothing to do with the matter and that Engen should sort them out.
“So, they’re playing games with us and we don’t know where we stand right now. We need Engen to come and speak to us. We need to really know what is going on. We cannot sit like this with no answers,” Wilson added.
On behalf of the bereaved families of block 10, resident, Tricia Smith, said their battle started on 4 December after they had to evacuate their homes.
With no one from the oil refinery company to address them, they had not had a bath nor anything to eat on that fateful morning. She said they waited approximately 12 hours on the curb.
“It then started raining. I went to Engen with community activist, André de Bruin and the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Affairs, Ravi Pillay, to tell them what had happened. At the beginning of the meeting, they said they were ready to take full responsibility for what had happened. The meeting was held at around midday, I returned to join others on the curb. Nothing happened until about 8pm,” she said.
They were then moved into a bed and breakfast for about a promised duration of five days, as their place of residence was being assessed. They ended up staying 23 days.
“Every fourth day, they would tell us that we’re staying another five days. On Christmas Eve, they wanted to move us out of the bed and breakfast. We were moved in with very shoddy beds and furniture. These are either faulty or they break. We had to fight again. Anything we must get out of them, we must fight, and we’re tired of fighting them. We’ve been fighting them since 4 December,” she said.
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance’s air quality officer, Bongani Mthembu, said representatives of various organisations had an online meeting with management at Engen in response to the memorandum signed at the march held prior.
“It was unfortunate, however, that the meeting was held just before most of them were about to go on leave for the festive season. They assured us that they would work with us this year and ensure that the affected families at block 10 would be taken care of throughout the festive in terms of accommodation and food.”
“We have not had a meeting with them this year, but will be engaging with them soon because we need them to respond to questions based on the memorandum. We also want to be kept posted in their investigation and what their plan is as the refinery going forward in terms of their emergency evacuation plan, alerting the community and their corporate social investment,” he said.
A response from Engen was not forthcoming at the time of publication.
