A man walks past two shipping containers. One of the transit camps that people were moved to in 2009 before the 2010 World Cup. The camps were meant to be temporary accommodation before people were moved to permanent homes. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo African News Agency (ANA)
Durban - Shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo says the eThekwini Municipality should do away with transit camps because they amount to a condemnation of people housed in them.
Many people were moved from informal settlements ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to make way for infrastructure upgrades or for other reasons to “Temporary Residential Accommodation”, known as transit camps. The accommodation was meant to be temporary but years later some have yet to be moved to permanent housing.
Abahlali deputy president Mqapheli Bonono said they had noted that for many of the people placed in the transit camps, their lives did not improve.
“Our understanding was that when people got placed in transit camps, that was simply a short-term measure with the plan that they will move to a better place. Now we have cases of people arriving as kids and growing up to adults. That is not short-term,” Bonono protested.
He added that the one-room dwellings were small and not adequate for human living and were a breeding ground for diseases.
“These dwellings are cold and are equivalent to refrigerators right now, and are simply not conducive for human habitat,” the deputy president added.
Recently, a report before an ad hoc committee in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature dealt with the issue related to a camp south of Durban.
The municipality has been approached for comment.