Disgruntled residents of the Lapland area shared their dissatisfaction with the government officials for moving them back to their homes without allegedly checking whether it is safe to live, after flooding forced them to leave the area last month.
The Lapland residents gathered at their local church to share with UD Express their concerns with their living situation and their reluctance to move back.
Cyrilene Adams, who had been living at a shelter said, “We were moved from our homes into a shelter and taken from that shelter and moved back into our homes even though our living situation is worse than before.”
She explained with tears in her eyes that her seven-month old daughter passed away on July 1, blaming her death on their dire living situation.
Lenicia April said, “I lost my ID in the flood, and had to apply for a new one. While we were housed at the shelter, thieves came into my house and stole everything of ours, including my children’s birth certificates.”
Donovan Chiga expressed his concern about the lack of electricity in the area. “It is always dark here our side. We must rely on paraffin lights and candles, which is not safe. We don’t want to lose the little that we have should there be fires.”
The Lapland residents, in fear for their lives mentioned that their floodlight has not been working since 2020 and it raises concern for them. “We sometimes send our children to the shops which are about 500 metres away and there are a lot of gang- related shootings near that light. We fear for our lives.”
Asterline Bantom said when the wind is blowing heavily she has to send her 10-year-old child up to the roof to put bricks on it so the roof doesn’t blow away. “Our house is not livable.”
Juliana Maart, a Lapland resident who spoke on behalf of other residents said, “On the Tuesday, after the flood, the metro police begged us to move to the shelter and we didn’t want to. They said that we should think about our children, but moving wasn’t the issue. The issue was moving and having our belongings stolen and that happened while we were not here.”
Maart continued,
Another resident, Mervyn Blair, said, “A promise has been made to us. That is what we want. There is nothing left of our shacks. There are also children among us who can’t go back to school because they lost their school clothes, stationery and books. They have nothing. Half the year is gone, and they are going to lose another year of school.”
He added, “All we want is what the President promised us. He said that they were going to come here and check whether we can move back home if it is livable, but they still brought us back. Why?”
Desmond Bosman (73), one of the residents, who is also a church leader, said, “We moved to the shelters that they provided but when we came back, we had nothing. They stole all my stuff, including equipment for the church, like generators, sound equipment for the band and my pots, dishes, light bulbs and everything in my wardrobe. I have nothing now.”
He says that his home is worse than before. “They took us out, which I understand, but they never put security here for us. We told them why we don’t want to leave, but they didn’t listen. Nothing has changed since we left, so why did they move us in the first place?” Bosman added.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was approached for comment, but failed to respond at the time of going to print on Wednesday.
