KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has called on the eThekwini Municipality and other local governments in the province to make land available where homes can be built for people in informal settlements.
He has visited the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban where 122 structures burnt down in a fire caused by a candle at the weekend.
Two people - 25-year-old Nonhle Mbongo and a 1-year-old toddler - died.
Buthelezi says his department has installed 2,000 smoke detectors in the settlement. However, Buthelezi says informal settlements will always be prone to fires.
But we have met as KZN Cogta with the organisation Abahlali baseMjondolo to look at long-term solutions because the state these people are in is really not suitable, and its not safe. Therefore, long-term solutions would need the eThekwini Municipality to come on board to find suitable land to construct suitable housing for these families, says Buthelezi.