Government has set aside funds to assist the 160 families whose homes were gutted in a fire in Durban.
|||The eThekwini municipality and Human Settlements Department have set aside R1.7 million to assist 160 families whose homes were destroyed when a fire swept through the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Sydenham in Durban on Tuesday night.
The cause of the fire was still unclear on Wednesday, when mayor James Nxumalo and Human Settlements MEC Ravi Pillay visited the victims.
“We will arrange a formal meeting where we will discuss relocating all Kennedy Road residents to a suitable place permanently to avoid such accidents from happening again. Today’s visit was to make sure that basic needs such as food parcels, clothing and blankets are provided,” Nxumalo said.
Building material for the residents to reconstruct their shacks was expected to have arrived by Wednesday afternoon.
Many residents were seen collecting what they could salvage of their belongings from the ashes, while others were moving into a hall where they had been temporarily housed.
“The fire left us with just the clothes that we’re wearing. “I’ve lost everything including my school books and uniform, but most importantly my ID document,” Sinethemba Njapha said. - The Mercury