uMdloti Rising: Coastal town springs from the mud
Kevin Minter-Brown, one of the active residents in uMdloti, north of Durban, said that he was impressed by the work that was being done to restore the quaint coastal town after it was destroyed by mudslides during the April and May 2022 floods.
IOL contacted Minter-Brown after coming across a post by the eThekwini Municipality regarding its teams working in the area.
The city said it was conducting flood damage repairs in Ward 58 in July and is expected to finish the job in March 2024.
Minter-Brown confirmed that the municipal employees were on site and said that they were “conducting a big operation”.
The newly installed infrastructure that is currently being installed will go a long way in managing the growing demand and load that uMdloti is experiencing, Minter-Brown explained, indicating that more property developments are under way in the area.
“There’s massive work being undertaken in uMdloti. They are putting in a whole system that's called a ‘Trench drainage system’ or something like that. It is huge. The entire traffic circle at the bottom of uMdloti has been closed for some time now.
“I mean, the work itself is quite extensive; they have dug these huge trenches that, I guess, will form part of the new drainage that will take care of the water and sewage that flows from behind uMdloti.
“On the north and south sides, they have also installed new drains and new pipes. Although the work has taken a long time, I must say it has been done. There was a disruption with traffic and stuff, but I think everybody is pleased with the progress,” Minter-Brown said.
Minter-Brown also hinted that residents would be installing a new landscape for the uMdloti area along the coastal strip, which features holiday homes and a helping of restaurants.
The picturesque area was destroyed during the floods, when heavy rains caused the sand banks of the development behind uMdloti to give way and flow down into the residential parts in the form of mud.
The run-off water that could not be channelled through the sewage system also found its way into people's homes.
Louisa Jacobs, an uMdloti resident, said her home of 30 years was badly damaged by the heavy rains.
“My house is standing there, but it’s full of cracks, and if you walk out into the garden, there is a whole crater there,” Jacobs told IOL last year.
The developer that allegedly was behind the damages, Salta Sibiya, put out a statement at the time of the disaster, indicating that it had followed the proper protocols set out by the municipality.
Minter-Brown also told IOL on Friday that he spoke to the person in charge of the Salta Sibiya development, who has been remorseful for what happened during the flood and is also in the process of making up for it.
IOL