Jabu Khanyile cleans her home after it was flooded during the flood rains on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Lethiwe Makhanya
KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has called on disaster teams in the province to provide immediate assistance to victims of flash floods in Msunduzi.
Dube-Ncube has expressed her sympathy to the affected parties and instructed disaster teams to prioritise children who are currently writing exams, the elderly and families that are homeless at this stage.
“Reports indicate that many houses were badly destroyed after a heavy downpour resulted in the UMsunduzi River breaking its banks and causing massive flooding. This incident has caused a lot of damage to property and disrupted people’s lives,” she said.
Dube-Ncube said she is in touch with the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Disaster Management chaired by MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sihle Zikalala which will be conducting preliminary assessment of the damage together with the District and Local Mayors.
She added that this unfortunate incident came as the province is hard at work rebuilding infrastructure and restoring services that were disrupted during the April and May floods.
The premier has also called on all citizens to remain vigilant and to be on full alert as unpredictable weather conditions induced by climate change which are threatening human lives are upon the country.
“We thank the Almighty that no deaths or casualties have been reported so far, but the Provincial Government will continue to closely monitor developments and provide ongoing support to the affected communities including socio-psychological support where appropriate,” said Premier Dube-Ncube.
Municipal manager Lulamile Mapholoba who was addressing the committee at the city hall on Thursday, said the summary of the statistics showed that most, if not all wards have households that were reported to have been damaged or destroyed.
He also said that 78 people made up of 30 families were affected.
“The disaster management unit responded to the various areas to assess damages at the affected wards and provided emergency relief. Electricity disruptions, damage assessment and immediate response is yet to be confirmed by Eskom. Many roads [and] bridges were damaged which restricted access to communities thereby hindering service delivery,” he said.
ALSO READ: Updated | Floods hit Msunduzi hard
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