Durban - The DA and IFP say the episode of people staying in transit camps is a sore point for which any government should be ashamed.
The leaders of the two parties, Francois Rodgers from the DA, and IFP’s Thami Ntuli said this in response to The Mercury story about some families who have been staying at a transit camp in Malukazi, south of Durban since 2009.
Ntuli said the episode demonstrated that eThekwini Municipality was not committed to providing houses to people in need.
“This is shameful because there are many cases where people have been waiting for houses to be delivered to them, but this has not happened,” said Ntuli.
Rodgers said the plight of people in Malukazi should be a source of shame to eThekwini Municipality and the provincial government.
He cited an instance in which he stayed at a transit camp in a bid to get first-hand experience on living under such conditions.
“Having spent two nights in one transit camp I know what it is like to sleep there and that is why it is shameful that a government can allow a situation like this where people live under such conditions for years,” said the DA leader.
He added that this was one of the reasons that the two parties were working together because they wanted to unseat the ANC from government at the 2024 general elections.