KwaZulu-Natal rules out emergency housing aid for foreign nationals after Copesville shack fire
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KwaZulu-Natal said foreign nationals affected by a shack fire at the Swapo informal settlement in Copesville will not receive emergency housing assistance, after a verification process found 19 foreign nationals had been living in the destroyed structures.
A fire at the Swapo informal settlement in Copesville, outside Pietermaritzburg, destroyed 20 shacks, up from an initial estimate of between 13 and 15, and claimed the life of a woman while leaving her partner with serious burn injuries.
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, said a verification process by Msunduzi Municipality after the fire found that 19 foreign nationals had been living in the destroyed shacks and that a foreign national was allegedly renting out the structures at R250 each, with illegal electricity connections. He said one person claiming to be South African also occupied a shack, with an identification document the province wants verified by the Department of Home Affairs. The woman who died in the blaze, her partner and a child initially reported to have suffered burns were all identified as foreign nationals.
The MEC said the provincial government would not provide emergency housing support to foreign nationals affected by the fire. "Flowing from above, we wish to reiterate our position that foreign nationals will never be considered for emergency housing assistance, building material, or RDP houses. This is in line with the government policy," he said, adding that housing resources must be reserved for qualifying South African beneficiaries.
He also alleged that officials had detected attempts by some South Africans to claim government assistance on behalf of foreign nationals, saying some were "fronting" for foreign nationals. According to the MEC, the Human Settlements Department has lost more than R2 billion through fraud involving the sale and rental of RDP houses to foreign nationals, a figure he said includes the cost of land purchases, rezoning for development, housing plans, environmental impact assessments, conveyancing, bulk infrastructure and construction. "It takes years for the state to build such houses, and these must remain in the hands of South Africans," he said.
According to the preliminary verification, the fire originated in the shack occupied by the woman who died and her partner. The child initially reported to have suffered burns survived.