All Transitional Emergency Accommodations (TEA) will be closed by January 2027, stated the KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements Department (DHS) on Wednesday. 

In a report to the KZN Legislature Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, the department recorded that it had spent R185 million on TEA rental for flood victims from December 2022 to December 2024, and an additional R128 million for every 12 months thereafter.  

The DHS is projecting that 837 houses will be completed by December 2026, and that 375 flood victims will be housed at Montclair Lodge and Cornubia Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) while building their permanent houses, targeted for completion by June 2027.

According to the DHS flood victim status report, there are 1,195 families in TEU as of June 2025.  

In an updated report before the committee on the resettlement of 2022 and 2025 flood victims, the DHS identified seven problems. They were: 

• Land parcels rezoning/statutory compliance for the 2022 disaster victims’ permanent shelter solution was completed after two years, against the expectation of a shorter period.
• There is no additional funding for bulk infrastructure services and top structures estimated at R 1.7 billion if building on six identified land parcels, and R681 million if building at Cornubia.

• Communities already living near the rezoned identified land parcels do not want flood victims to be settled in these land parcels.

• There is no funding for TEA rent, and it depletes departmental resources, which would have been spent on service delivery.

• The department has spent R185 million on TEA rent from December 2022 to December 2024, and an additional R128 million for every 12 months.

• Flood victims are inconvenienced as they do not have complete privacy where they live. They no longer enjoy the perpetual stay in TEAs.

• The KZN province, particularly in eThekwini, continues to suffer from disasters, as could be seen with the 2025 emergencies in Lamontville and Umlazi.

The department stated that the construction of 108 houses in Cornubia, north of Durban, could commence this month. 

For the Cornubia area, the DHS has allocated R420 million from the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) and the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme grant (ISUPG) for bulk services from the 2025 /26 budget. 

The department stated that R25 million from Capital Balances had already been allocated to complete 108 houses in October 2025.

The balance of the money will be made available in the 2026/27 financial year. The 692 houses are scheduled for completion by the end of December 2026, and it is anticipated that the flood victims will move in during December 2026 and January 2027. 

The DHS stated that 20 houses for flood victims are under construction at Illovo, costing R3.8 million. The completion of these houses will close Ilfracombe and Adams TEUs.

It warned that the seven rezoned lands under eThekwini Metro will be utilised for the normal housing projects to address the backlog. The DHS stated that, together with affected municipalities, it will conduct an intensive social facilitation on communities that refuse to accept flood victims and other developments in their backyards.

The DHS warned that it will use the rule of law as a last resort to re-settle the flood victims and implement other projects in government-owned land where communities refuse the development. 

Riona Gokool, MPL and DA KZN spokesperson on Human Settlements, called for a special audit into all TEA rental expenses, flood resettlement delays, and transparency on fund reallocation decisions, particularly those relating to disaster response and resettlement.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za 

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