Montclair Lodge to serve as transitional housing for flood victims in KwaZulu-Natal
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements has bought the Montclair Lodge from Transnet for R33 million and will use the property as government-owned transitional emergency accommodation.
MEC Siboniso Duma made the announcement at the lodge’s doorstep on Sunday morning.
Duma said the transfer from Transnet to the department occurred on May 31.
“In other words, we will no longer use private facilities as part of the Temporary Emergency Accommodation (TEA),” Duma said.
The lodge has 268 rooms with a 600-bed capacity.
Duma said the Housing Development Agency will manage it for the department.
“A professional engineer will be appointed before the end of July 2025 to do a basic assessment, which will determine the scope of work for the refurbishment. The contractor will be appointed immediately upon receipt of the basic assessment.
A minimum of R35 million will be set aside for the refurbishment, while R4.2 million has been made available for the basic assessment,” Duma explained.
He said it is expected that some flood victims will occupy the lodge in December 2025 or January 2026.
“Our plan is to ensure that we are ready for heavy rainfall and flooding associated with the summer season,” Duma said.
“This milestone of a government-owned transitional emergency accommodation will drastically reduce the rent paid to privately owned transitional emergency accommodations.”
The large property, with several floors, rooms with built-in cupboards, bathrooms, a dining hall, garages and a swimming pool, requires refurbishment, as seen during a walkabout. Among others, some windows were broken, doors taken off their hinges, peeling paint, and tiles were missing from the floor.
Head of Department Max Mbili said a professional engineer will do a basic assessment on what needs to be done for the property to be ready for occupation.
“We are going to give him or her a period of two to three weeks to complete that exercise. Thereafter, we are going to appoint a contractor who will then come and do renovations,” Mbili said.
He said repairs are expected to be completed by December 2025 or January 2026, and then families will occupy it.
“Affected families will be housed here for a period of one to three months while we’re building a permanent solution for them,” Mbili said.
Montclair resident Simphiwe Mzimba expressed gratitude that the department had bought the property because they had become police and security personnel, guarding and not sleeping, ensuring that no one occupies the property without permission.
“We encourage residents, now that the building will be used, not to be aggrieved and question those who will occupy it, because there are questions about why people from areas like Lamontville will occupy it,” Mzimba said.
He urged the department to have community engagement, explaining that those who would occupy the property were affected by floods.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za