Dozens of flood victims from Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape say government’s intervention has been minimal since heavy rains caused widespread destruction in the area.
Homes, roads and water infrastructure were damaged in April. More than thirty homes were ravaged by the floods, mostly in Port St Johns.
Residents say government’s slow pace in lending assistance is cause for concern. It’s been five months since floods wreaked havoc in Port St Johns.
The damage is still visible in the area while some have received temporary structures other’s homes are still in a bad state.
“They assisted us with the roof, so it’s better than it was before but I don’t think it will survive the rainy season because it is dilapidated,” says flood victim Ntombekhaya Ndamase.
Mudslides remain a threat to the flood-prone coastal town. Some residents have started building retaining walls while others are pinning their hopes on government to come to their aid.
“Even the premier knows about this house but he said only build houses there’s nothing they can do about this land slide,” says another flood victim Nokuzola Nomankonyane.
“We do not get assistance from government, the floods were in April, and people started fixing their homes themselves. We used wheelbarrows to remove mud from affected roads,” says a third victim of the floods, Ntomboxolo Gule.
Over R46-million has been made available to the OR Tambo District for flood relief but nothing has been spent yet.
“We have only just received our allocation from Treasury, it has only been gazetted, we are now in a process of how to spend it so between now and September, we are finalising those issues. So no spending has taken place,” says OR Tambo District Municipality Mayor Mesuli Ngqondwana.
The affected municipalities in the OR Tambo District will receive their own budgets for intervention.
Meanwhile, residents say they are concerned about how the money will be used.
VIDEO: Five months later no relief for Port St Johns flood victims:
