Two houses damaged by Tuesday’s strong winds

KNYSNA NEWS - According to Knysna Municipality’s records, the strong winds in Knysna on Tuesday affected only two houses.

“They both had damage to their roofs,” said municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt on Wednesday.

“One is in Spies Street, Hornlee and the other in Onderste Gaatjie in Sedgefield. We’re also experiencing technical challenges at the water treatment works and Akkerkloof Dam due to the storm. Residents have been asked to use water sparingly.”

But it seems damage to houses doesn’t necessarily start with strong winds. According to Love Corner resident Phumeza Mdumeni, shoddy building work is the reason why the roof sheets of their newly built home were blown off.

She said they moved into their new houses in January, but the homes already look as if they have been built ten years ago.

“This is all because of poor workmanship. It's raining into our houses and the roofs are falling apart. We have to paint every time as the rain gets inside the house through the wall," she said.

“On Tuesday, small parts of our roof fell apart. This is could have been avoided if the houses were fixed when we raised the matter two months ago.”

Responding to KPH's enquiries, Bezuidenhoudt said they were aware of the complaints raised by Love Corner residents.

"We have since been engaging with the complainants. A site inspection was carried out last week by the Western Cape Department of Housing, Knysna Municipality, project managers, implementing agents and building inspectors to assess the extent of the complaints," he said.

According to Bezuidenhoudt, the inspection concluded that there are no structural damages and there are only minor issues, that are all being attended to by the implementing agent.

Parts of the roof falling in newly built Love Corner houses.