A new beginning: Families displaced by the 2022 floods finally move into their permanent homes.
After four years of waiting and navigating the emotional and physical challenges of living in transitional accommodation, Durban flood victims are finally receiving the keys to their new homes.
As the KZN Department of Human Settlements and eThekwini Municipality handed over 113 houses in Cornubia this week, families displaced since the 2022 floods expressed a mixture of relief, joy, and gratitude, while reflecting on the immense difficulties they faced living alongside strangers in temporary quarters.
Ntombi Shabane, 60, lived in Welbedacht East when her house was flooded and her family lived in a community hall for eight months from April 2022, before being moved to flats in Reservoir Hills, where they lived for three years.
“Now in 2026, we’re in our new house. I’m very happy with this new house because I almost gave up because of the difficulties I faced. We had been told it would be quick because money for the disaster had been released by the government,” Shabane said.
