THE eThekwini Municipality delivered soap and hand sanitiser at Glebelands Hostel in Umlazi, south of Durban, yesterday.
Accompanied by soldiers and cops, Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda went into a few of the hostel buildings to hand over the supplies.
The visit came after complaints from residents that they had not received sanitisers promised by the municipality before the lockdown announcement.
After going door-to-door, Kaunda urged residents to obey lockdown rules.
He denied accusations he only visited the hostel after being pressured to do so, saying he’d been visiting hostels since the lockdown started and all 11 hostels in the municipality had received materials.
Kaunda said the campaign would now focus on squatter camps as all hostels had been visited.
He said the widescale testing announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday would start soon and urged residents to allow health workers to test them.
The mayor said there was no reason to fear tsotsis would take advantage of the process as testing would be led by councillors and their committee members, who were known to residents.
Hostel resident Asanda Ncayiyana (25) thanked the mayor and municipality for the sanitisers.
He said he feared the virus.
“We’re grateful to the mayor and his team, and to the government. We feel safe, now that we’ll be able to wash our hands with sanitisers.”
After the hostel visit, the mayor went to Dakota squatter camp in Isipingo, just outside Umlazi.
He said it was concerning that the virus had reached densely populated areas such as Umlazi, where a teacher has died.
