KZN COGTA concerned about families building homes in disaster-prone areas

DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has raised concern as families continue to build homes in disaster-prone areas, despite repeated warnings not to do so.

This follows the latest mudslides in Umlazi, where one displaced family revealed their home has been damaged for the third time.

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The department says emergency alert systems are effective, but if communities ignore the risks and build in unsafe zones, they’ll continue to face devastating losses.

COGTA MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi says once affected families are relocated, the municipality will seal off the area to prevent further settlement.

"Generally, the early warning system is working, especially if you find that people are following us on social media, they are complying with the alerts on the radio and on the TV, and the disaster management centre of eThekwini is very effective. But the problem we're having is these families who have built their houses on areas which were never supposed to have been approved."