President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that more funds will be required to respond to the flood disaster in various parts of the country. He says that Treasury is conducting an investigation.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa addressed a Joint Sitting of Parliament on the devastation caused by flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, parts of the Eastern Cape, and North West.
“National Treasury is continuing to interact with various state institutions involved including the Disaster Management Centre to assess the extent of any additional funding required to respond to the disaster. It is clear honourable, members that more money will be needed to deal with the reconstruction and rebuilding work that we must undertake. We have to ensure that all funds used to respond to this disaster are spent effectively.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says while President Ramaphosa has given the assurance that the national government will co-ordinate and manage the disaster caused by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, the reality faced by people on the ground is a different scenario.
“In the real world, no one is actually managing this process. Everyone has simply run away from this problem and desperate residents have been left once again to fend for themselves. The mayor has gone awol, your councillors are panicking telling residents to F…off on WhatsApp, the Premier grabs a tanker for themselves, council staff are stealing the care packages meant for the rescuers and when the Ministers finally arrive they come in helicopters for vanity flybys that should have been used to rescue individuals.”
630 schools affected
President Cyril Ramaphosa says 630 schools were affected by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal with more than a hundred schools that are inaccessible. He says scores of learners also lost their lives with some still missing.
He elaborates on how schools in KwaZulu-Natal are worst affected.
“Around 630 schools have been affected and over 100 schools are not accessible at President. Sadly and perhaps this is the saddest part, 58 learners of various ages and one educator have passed away. Five learners are still missing. Now that is the human tragedy that our people in KwaZulu-Natal have been subjected to. The economic damage is substantial, notable the Port of Durban, one of the Continent’s busiest ports.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses a joint sitting of parliament on recent floods:
