Durban — The residents of ward 24, in Chesterville are seeing red over the state of Masuku Road/Road 12 since it was damaged by the April floods last year.
The irate residents said the municipality had abandoned them and left them to become easy targets for criminals, and their lives had been torpedoed.
They said the road was washed away by the floods, leaving a long stretch of it looking like a huge donga, and unusable by foot or vehicle.
An elderly and ailing Mama Nomusa Magudulela said their lives had become a living hell.
“Living on this road is similar to living in the bush. It has been more than a year since it was damaged, but seemingly the municipality does not think that we deserve to live like normal human beings.
“I am sick and most of the time I need to go to the doctor or the clinic. A person with a health emergency can now die here, because an ambulance cannot reach this area, leaving the destitute to spend more money and hire private transportation.
“We can’t even stretch our legs, because on venturing out of the house you are faced with the trash that is being dumped, and the dongas all over this area of road,” Magudulela said.
DA PR councillor Sanelisiwe Chebure said the situation had been reported many times to eThekwini Municipality’s engineering unit, but to date, there had been no action.
eThekwini Municipality’s Head of Communications, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, said: “This work will be undertaken by external resources and is currently in the tender process.
“We expect to have a contractor on site by August 2023. However, our Roads Provision will try to source savings from the Flood Remediation contract in the area, which covers the Westville/Pinetown area, to complete the flood remediation works.
“The issue of illegal dumping has been brought to the attention of the Cleansing and Solid Waste unit for further investigation.”
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Daily News