Umdloti residents blame new development for flood damage, plan to picket
Residents of Umdloti whose homes flooded or partially collapsed during the recent floods are planning to picket outside the Salta Sibaya development on the town's main road on Wednesday morning.
They believe the new residential development near their properties is to blame for the damage.
They say the developer cleared vegetation on the site, making the area susceptible to mudslides.
There were evacuations in the area on Saturday after homes began to flood.
By the evening, parts of beachfront apartments began to collapse.
One of the locals and organisers of the picket, Kevin Minter-Brown, says the area didn't have such flood-related issues before the developers came in.
"We have had now two perfect storms in a matter of five weeks. We understand that the storms were pretty hectic, but we also know that had these developments at least done their due diligence. We would not have suffered so badly. Entire households, blocks of flats have been condemned."
READ: WATCH: 'We grabbed what we could' – Umdloti residents tell of flood terror
"So we are very concerned and we'd like to know from the developers what happens if we get another perfect storm in three weeks' time? And now we are back to square one after the second storm and we want answers.
"We what to know what is being done at the development were believe there has been breaches in process that has resulted in all the excess damage."
The Salta Sibaya developers, Devmco Group, say they've been compliant and are audited by independent environmental consultants every fortnight.
They say numerous false claims and misconceptions have been circulated about the cause of the damage.
The company has also denied claims their stormwater management plan was not approved.
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