By Amy Musgrave
Officials in the national emergency housing team have been directed to speed up assistance to hundreds of families who have been left destitute following flash floods in eThekwini and other municipalities in the province.
The death toll currently stands at six. Among them are two women aged between 56 and 60, who were washed away in Lamontville and Chatsworth, and three children aged five, 11 and 16, who died after being swept away into a canal in Lamontville. The sixth person is from Chatsworth.
Hundreds of people have been displaced, with the flooding also affecting areas on the outskirts of eThekwini, according to emergency services. They are dealing with localised flooding, an overflow of low-water bridges, mudslides, collapsed infrastructure and severe debris.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane announced on Wednesday afternoon that she had had instructed officials to speed up the assistance, confirming that areas impacted by the heavy rainfall included eThekwini townships such as Lamontville and Umlazi as well as uGu and King Cetshwayo districts municipalities.
“We regret that the floods have resulted in the loss of life; our deepest condolences to the families that lost their loved ones. I have impressed upon our team to work with other spheres of government and relevant institutions to assist the affected households,” the minister said in a statement.
“Key to this is the provision of emergency shelter. Our team will conduct the necessary assessment that will inform our intervention in line with our Emergency Housing Policy.”
The minister said the team would conduct preliminary technical assessments and beneficiary registration.
This would inform possible interventions such as rebuilding the damaged structures, relocating the affected households and providing building materials to enable those who had been impacted to restore their damaged houses or structures.
Simelane appealed for maximum cooperation between the government and other stakeholders including communities.
“It is only through cooperation that we will be able to effectively respond to housing emergencies such as this one”, she said.
In the meantime, the department was already working with provincial structures to ensure that affected households were assisted with adequate shelter.
Disaster management are working around the clock to respond to the crisis, with the rain unlikely to let up soon.
KwaZulu-Natal cooperative and governance department and traditional affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi said the disaster management response teams were
conducting evacuations and providing aid to affected communities.
“Our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our residents,” he said.
The floods follow days of persistent rain in the province. On Tuesday, the SA Weather Service issued a Level Yellow 2 warning for heavy thunderstorms. It was issued again on Wednesday for the southern parts of the province.
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