Durban - Shack dwellers in the North Coast town of Etete, between Shakaskraal and Groutville, have blocked the R102 for two days and are demanding houses in a service delivery protest.
The protesters have blocked off the R102 with rocks and expect Human Settlements MEC Ravi Pillay to address them on Tuesday, after KwaDukuza mayor councillor Ricardo Mthembu, was booed away on Wednesday.
Etete ward councillor, Promise Dube, said the community was tired of waiting for services.
She said residents had rejected Mthembu’s offer to wait three months and wanted assurance of a date when the project would commence.
“The mayor asked for three months to find a solution, but the people rejected it. He tried to explain that he needed to follow procedures, but they refused to listen to him,” she said.
The housing development is expected to take place in Etete.
“The people feel they are not getting the service delivery they require from the municipality in terms of housing.
“There is a project that has been approved and that has been communicated (to) the people, they have been waiting for a long time and are tired of waiting,” she said.
Dube said the project had been slowed down because there had been no land readily available for the 1 500 three-room houses to be built.
She said the municipality had since identified the land, and the project managers, Motheo Construction Group, had completed stage one of the project – which included identifying if the land was large enough to build a community on.
“The other problem the municipality is facing is that KwaDukuza has no water supply,” she said.
“We have to await approval from the Ilembe Municipality. A letter has been written to that municipality and we are waiting for the agreement to be finalised,” she said.
Provincial police spokesman Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed the service delivery protest and said police were monitoring the situation. He said no violent incident or injuries were reported.
Daily News