Durban — SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) Commissioner Philile Ntuli said the status quo in local government was going nowhere unless mindsets changed.
Ntuli was speaking about the conditions women and flood victims faced when they were evicted from an empty Transnet building known as Montclair Lodge, south of Durban, a few weeks ago.
Ntuli directed her discussion to President Cyril Ramaphosa when the SAHRC and the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities held a National Conference on local governance on Thursday.
Ntuli called for more consequence management and accountability.
“To show you the lack of care, on August 8, which was the dawn of Women’s Day, women, who are in the majority, were evicted on what was one of the coldest days of the winter in the province. They had to spend that night on the streets. Not only were they evicted, but when they tried to go back to the halls, those in the halls told them they could not return. They were stuck in the rain and cold. There was a child as young as two weeks among those people,” Ntuli said.
The commission gathered the stakeholders to discuss the crisis.
“We agreed together with eThekwini Municipality that they will facilitate the urgent return of these women, in particular, to the lodge. The municipality made commitments to us, but to this day that lodge is not occupied by those people.
“This shows the culture and notion of habits that permeates the mindset of public servants in the local government sphere. Someone needs to be held accountable for issues such as these,” Ntuli said.
Ntuli reminded Ramaphosa that he had called the SAHRC the “conscience of government and the nation”, and said the commission had a task not only to hold the government accountable but to ensure the transformation of mindsets “in the manner in which we approach issues of human rights”.
The building was invaded by some of the flood victims who were placed in Yellowwood Park Civic Centre and Tehuis Hostel in uMlazi.
They were forcefully evicted at the beginning of August after occupation of two weeks.
Transnet, the state-owned rail freight logistics utility, then approached the Durban High Court and sought an eviction order to remove the flood victims from the building.
Recently, KZN Human Settlements and Public Works MEC Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba and eThekwini Municipality held discussions to acquire the Montclair Transnet Lodge Complex and use it for social housing purposes.
At that time Transnet said: “Transnet Property has reached an agreement with the Department of Human Settlements regarding housing displaced people at the Montclair Lodge in Durban.”
On Thursday DA eThekwini councillor Zamani Khuzwayo said a list of flood victims to be relocated to the lodge, has been put together and the victims would move into their temporary shelter.
Daily News