Introducing fire resistant building technologies and materials is an initiative that Human Settlements minister Lindiwe Sisulu has promised to help the municipalities of Knysna and Bitou with.

Sisulu recently met with provincial MECs for human settlements departments to devise lasting solutions for housing challenges currently being faced by residents in Knysna and Bitou. This follows the recent devastating wildfires in the region which left 7 people dead and thousands displaced.

“Our immediate response is to ensure that we provide temporary accommodation and that no one lives in community halls or schools,” Sisulu said. “There are a lot of innovative building technologies that can produce temporary structures at a shortest time possible.”

As far as funding goes, Sisulu said assistance from all human settlements MECs has been allocated and will fast track the rebuilding of Knysna and Bitou.

She said it was agreed that in future, when disasters affect people, their departments will respond together and ensure that challenges are addressed.

“This disaster also provides us with an opportunity to work together to build an integrated and inclusionary human settlements – a new Knysna and Bitou where the poor and the rich stay together,” Sisulu said.

She also directed the department to work with other institutions of government to develop policies and models that will ensure insurances are affordable for the poor.

“We had been considering a policy for everyone that gets a government subsidy house to have insurance to assist during a disaster,” she said. “This disaster in Kynsna and Bitou has made us realised that there is a need for everyone that owns a house to have insurance.”

Sisulu and several other Members of Parliament and provincial human settlements MECs visited the affected areas on Thursday to assess the damage and formulate a final response on housing challenges faced by local residents.

During the visit, MECs met with local municipality mayors and other stakeholders to find viable ways forward.