Durban - Thirty-six residents at the Enduduzweni Centre for the Disabled in uMlazi have accused the Department of Social Development of trampling on their rights by kicking them out of the home.
Duduzile Nkabinde, 56, from Ladysmith, is partially blind and has lived at the centre for 18 years.
She said the officials from the department had called residents to urgent meetings last month, but most of them could not attend because they were still away on holiday.
When they returned, they were taken to a meeting at the department’s offices at Emaweleni in uMlazi, where “we were told that the centre would be shutting down for renovations under orders from the Department of Public Works”.
“We refuse to leave until they tell us where they expect us to go and until they find an alternative place for us to stay. They also need to tell us how long these renovations are going to take,” Nkabinde said.
“We were told the building was crumbling and could collapse any time, but we need more answers.”
She said they had been told to move out by February 6 and, after they refused, the date
had been extended to February 10. But they still refused to move.
“On Friday, vehicles, trucks and buses came to the centre to take us away, but we closed the gates and did not allow them in because we refused to be dumped as we don’t know what the future will hold for us,” said Nkabinde.
She said the department had not told them about this transport arrangement.
“This government only knows us when it’s time to give them our votes, but when we want our rights to be protected they are nowhere to be seen,” said Nkabinde.
Nkabinde, who works on craft projects at the centre alongside other disabled residents, said the workshops in which they worked had been closed.
Now they have refused entry to the centre’s staff, including cleaners, kitchen staff and grounds staff.
“We will only allow them back in when the department allows us access to our workshops,” she said.
‘No pay’
Thandukwazi Shange, 34, of Umbumbulu, has lived there since 2010, when he and others were brought into the centre by the department for a skills development programme.
He alleged after the completion of their six months’ training they were given jobs, but had never been paid despite all their work being sold.
“This is sad and frustrating for us; now after seven years living here they suddenly want to kick us out.
“How are we going to go home empty-handed, with no money and no recognition of the work we have done here?” asked Shange.
He said it was not the first time the department had threatened to kick them out, and that it had happened in 2013.
“After we refused to leave in 2013, they even stopped giving us food and we now depend on our grants to survive,” Shange said.
Like Shange, 37-year-old Musa Nzuza, from KwaMaphumulo, also arrived at the centre in 2010 as part of the Department of Social Development’s skills development programme.
He said he had been disappointed by the ill-treatment they had received from the department.
He said he was not going to leave the centre until he received what was owed to him or was employed full-time with proper pay each month.
Ncumisa Ndelu, KZN Department of Social Development spokesperson, said the building had been condemned by the Department of Public Works, which had advised them that it was no longer fit for human habitation.
“All the residents of Enduduzweni are well aware of this, they were alerted to this in December while they were home for the holidays and even had letters written to them and were paid home visits, too,” Ndelu said.
She said people needed to understand the home was not a residential centre, but a skills development centre for disabled people where they acquired skills that would help them make an income and then leave for home to allow other people a chance to acquire skills.
“It’s also not a question of us having to find them an alternative address because they need to leave to allow the renovation process to start,” Ndelu said.
Desmond D’Sa, of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), said he found it shocking the government wanted to evict “harmless people”.
“The Department of Social Development is a disgrace. T hey say they want to renovate the place but the agenda is to get rid of the blind and disabled and put them on the street and then sell the centre for a profit,” D’Sa said.
He said removing blind and disabled people from a place they called home was unjustifiable and “total madness”.