By: Natasha Archary
The death toll in the KZN floods continues to climb and currently stands at 306 lives lost. In what has been declared as the worst natural disaster to hit South Africa, the province has been declared a disaster area.
President Cyril Ramaphosa who visited flood ravaged areas on Wednesday, assured communities that they have government’s support.
Ramaphosa promised families would be assisted financially with funeral arrangements, food, shelter and clothing.
The president took a helicopter over the province to assess the damages to some parts of KZN.
Rights free video of President Cyril Ramaphosa assessing damages due to floods in some parts of KZN.#kznfloods #heavyrains pic.twitter.com/I9D7oAwhIH
— Inanda FM (@inanda884fm) April 13, 2022
According to reports, the business hub, eThekwini Municipality has been the hardest hit and will need to be prioritised as it is the province’s main economic source.
Having met with the executive council, Ramaphosa said that the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana has been consulted to allocate funds to deal with the disaster.
Now that the province has been declared a disaster area, the matter will be gazetted so government can start taking decisive action.
“Roads and bridges have collapsed. People have lost houses, loved ones and this is a catastrophe of enormous proportions.”
In one of the reports coming out of KZN, a grandmother and her 3 grandchildren died after their vehicle was swept off a bridge.
Hundreds of people remain missing but as the waters subside, many bodies are being recovered and the death toll is expected to rise.
Meanwhile, some communities have begun mop-up operations to clear the water and layers of mud. Provincial government is working closely with national government to ensure that relief aid reaches all those affected by the floods.
Communities are urged to remain patient as clean-up crew capacity is stretched thin.
Thousands of people are being housed in temporary shelters but with the collapse of a number of road infrastructure many are still stranded.
More rain is expected to hit KZN this weekend, with the SA Weather Service issuing an Orange Level 9 warning for further flooding and landslides.
“When comrades chow storm water drainage systems tender monies. When early warning systems are not in place. This is not just happening because of the weather, it’s a signal that our disaster management units & our infrastructure systems are not in place”-A Ngoasheng#KZNFloods pic.twitter.com/3WucVWJ4Iz
— SimamkeleD (@simamkeleD) April 12, 2022
Also read: Newly elected Mayor Gayton McKenzie is pledging 100% of his salary to fixing his municipality



