While the Drakenstein Municipality has set aside R5,9 million in what is described as “emergency funds” it plans to spend on repairing damages sustained by households during the destructive winds a month ago, some residents of Paarl East are calling for more permanent solutions in addressing the crumbling state of their municipal flats.
The municipality this week said a large portion of these funds will be spent in Paarl East where 75 of its 124 municipal flats suffered various degrees of roof damage.
“Our teams were able to repair some of the roofs and covered others with plastic while waiting for an insurance claim to be finalised to enable us to fix all the roofs.
In the interest of our residents the municipality can unfortunately not postpone the major roof repairs any longer. Emergency funds of an estimated value of R5,9 million have now been made available, as well as additional manpower to repair the rest of the roofs,” it said in a statement this weekend.
By Monday (6 May) it had attended to 25 out of the 75 flats.
The municipality added that over the following days its teams will be “hard at work” in different areas to attend to the remainder of the roofs.
The municipality further emphasised that roofs that can be permanently fixed will receive the necessary repairs, while others will be temporarily covered with sturdy plastic to provide protection until full repairs can be made.
An elderly resident of Bouganvillea Street in Paarl East told Paarl Post that these “temporary fixes” are not effective.
He said the crumbling state of the municipal flats remains a long concern.
“We waited almost a month for them to merely come put plastics over the damaged roofs. We had to avoid certain areas of our apartments over the last few weeks because it is too dangerous for us to climb on the roof ourselves.
“These temporary fixes are not enough. Just look at the state of these flats. It is a grave concern. All of the flats need to undergo a major upgrade for the safety of us living here.”
In March this year Paarl Post reported about residents in Paarl East who have raised concerns about the poor state of stairs at some apartments.
Marthinus Gouws, a human rights activist and community leader who lives in Lantana Street, at the time told the publication that residents in Paarl East continue to live as “second class citizens” under the Drakenstein Municipality. He at the time also called for a total refurbishment of the apartments.
Louis Pienaar, Drakenstein’s executive director for community services, at the time said the municipality is in the process of improving its overall rental stock maintenance strategy. “We have started by changing the internal custodian of rental stock maintenance last year. The next step is to review the availability of materials and accompanied use of internal maintenance teams.
We are also reviewing the way work is being prioritised and we are taking a good look at the quality of work being performed. Another area we will focus on, is special projects related to asbestos abatement regulations, structural stability of staircases and roofs, and condition assessments.”
He also emphasised that the municipality wants to ensure that “these units are safe for our residents”.
Meanwhile, some residents of an informal settlement in Drakenstein’s Ward 5 in Wellington, say they have not received any assistance from the municipality after their structures where damaged a month ago.
Thobani Mooi, ANC councillor for Ward 5, told Paarl Post that the affected informal structures were reported to the relevant departement at the municipality.
“The municipality has a responsibility to respond to damage sustained during such disasters, and this includes informal settlements. It is quite upsetting that the residents of Ward 5 had to rebuild their shacks on their own account,” he said.
