The organisation Farmers Aid SA says a lot of help is still needed for those that the floods in KwaZulu-Natal have affected. Concerns have been raised that the continuous rain in the province could exacerbate the desperate situation on the ground. The organisation’s executive director Patrick Fisher explains what they are currently focusing on.
” I think the rain that is still continuing in KZN, is not helping either. The ones that we’re focusing on at the moment is the elderly. There’s a lot of work to be done, this is just the beginning, we’re still going to see a lot of devastation. I think we’re gonna see a lot of people losing their lives. The ones that have already lost their lives, i mean we’ve seen children as young as two weeks old, that have lost their lives. It’s devastating, we’re going to need a lot of help.”
Business owners in KwaZulu-Natal have been left reeling again, in the wake of the devastating floods.
The downpours that swept through the province have resulted in widespread damage to property and loss of stock. On Friday, Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams announced some government relief measures for small business and informal traders in the province.
Deputy President of The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry Gladwin Malishe shares more:
Hospitals coping
The Head of the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department Doctor Sandile Tshabalala says most hospitals are coping with the workload.
This is despite the major damage that floods have caused to the province’s health facilities. Tshabalala says they will ensure that caring for patients is not compromised.
“We have devised a strategy that says we are going to be very meticulous at our outpatient units where a patient does not needs to be admitted. We are not going to admit those patients where a patient is stable enough to be discharged home, we will discharge those patients but where a patient needs to be in the hospital, we do everything possible for that patient to be in that facility. If needs be we then move that patient to another facility so that the quality and the efficiency in terms of care is not compromised.”
Tshabalala says damaged road infrastructure is also making it difficult for patients to collect medication.
“We just are worried about the clients who are supposed to come pick their medication in our CCMDD points who do not have access and those who do not have access into some of our clinics that where we are worried more. But in our facilities, we think we are managing because even operations are happening. If needs be we move even staff from one place to another.”
