KZN flooding: disaster exposes cracks created by corruption, mismanagement

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) disaster is proof corruption has come back to haunt South Africa, as experts say the extensive flooding was a sign disaster management units and infrastructure systems in SA were regularly failing.

GroundWork director Bobby Peek said while flooding is a climate change issue, the biggest contributor of the disaster was the lack of service delivery and poor town planning, which has led to poor water drainage systems, collapsed roads and bridges.

“It’s not about climate change impacting the world, but government making sure people had decent homes and decent sanitation so when floods come, people are not washed away,” Peek said.

“It’s critical government delivers on the promises made in 1994, that we have decent services for all. At most when climate change comes, it’s the poor who are the hardest hit.”

According to a study – Challenges and Opportunities of Curbing Urban Corruption and Building Professional Integrity: Experiences of Planners in South Africa and Zambia – released by Habitat International this month, urban corruption can hinder integrated planning, skew the equitable distribution of public investments and capture urban management processes to the detriment of the public.

The study revealed corruption was a worsening problem for planners and for the urban development processes at large in SA.

“Nearly half (46%) of South African respondents [to a survey] had personally been asked at least occasionally to ignore or violate planning rules, policies, or procedures to achieve a particular planning outcome,” the study suggested.

“A similar proportion of respondents indicated contracting and procurement rules were manipulated to benefit personal interests – and colleagues, superiors, or senior officials had a personal interest in planning activities they oversaw.”

The research also revealed that the range and extent of bureaucratic requirements were seen as the major driver of noncompliance and an inroad for corruption, with respondents often describing planning processes as too lengthy and burdensome.

“Just over half of respondents in both countries, 52% in South Africa … agreed at least somewhat that applicable rules and regulations in urban development were largely unfair and gave too much influence to powerful interests,” the study revealed.

“In South Africa, local governments consistently fail to meet prescribed policy standards in financial and supply chain management, despite extensive local government regulations, which have been steadily tightened over the last decade in an attempt to enforce compliance.”

ALSO READ: LIVE: KZN floods – Questions over SANDF’s rescue capacity, while body count continues to rise

However, political economy analyst Daniel Silke said while the KZN disaster was not a direct result of corruption, it was mainly an issue of disaster management, which really needed a full and proper inspection of critical infrastructure within SA across the board.

“Disaster management in South Africa should really be a priority for the state in terms of infrastructure because this kind of disaster can happen anywhere across the country,” he said.

“Clearly, going forward in terms of town planning, we need adequate town planning, which takes into account the potential for natural disasters.”

Silke said the failure of various authorities to implement adequate infrastructure maintenance over many years made all of the regions in the country vulnerable to natural disasters.

“The weakness of infrastructure really comes home when there is a natural disaster of this nature, such as excess rainfall over a period of time. It’s all the more reason why our authorities need to be readily prepared to the possible eventualities of natural disasters,” he said.

Yesterday, the select committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs, water and sanitation said mitigation strategies must be put in place to avert the annual recurrence of disasters.

“There is a need for improved town planning and building processes to ensure that communities reside in areas that are relatively safe from mudslides,” said committee chair China Dodovu.

While commending the many efforts to assist the communities affected by floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Dodovu noted “with despair” the loss of life, destruction of property and livelihoods, and the general impact the storms have had on access to essential services, such as water and sanitation.

By late yesterday, more than 250 people were killed in the KZN floods.

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za

Additional reporting by SAnews.gov.za