Battered KZN needs all our help

It is bitterly tragic that barely nine months after being devastated by rioting, looting and death in the July unrest last year, KwaZulu-Natal has again to deal with tragedy and destruction… this time from nature.

Widespread heavy rain and subsequent flooding have already taken more than 45 lives and more people are still missing, while the cost of repairing the damage will, undoubtedly, run into billions.

While these events can accurately be termed “acts of God”, as insurance policies would have it, human acts of omission and commission have also played a role in making the effects of the disaster even worse.

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Massive growth of both formal and informal settlements around Durban – and most major cities in South Africa – means the loss of natural soil and vegetation, which acts like a natural shock absorber to soak up the water.

Our concrete, bricks and tar allow floods to spread far and fast.

There have been credible reports that the troubled and inefficient eThekwini municipality has neglected some basic maintenance of infrastructure, like storm water drains, accelerating the impacts of the deluge.

The systematic running down of the South African Air Force also means there were no Durban-based helicopters to help evacuate people from flooded parts.

Overall, the authorities appeared ill prepared for the disaster and emergency services seemed overwhelmed by the scale of what they were facing.

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Worryingly, that lack of preparedness for natural disasters is something which can be said for most of our big cities and our smaller towns are a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Most important now is that the government and private sector commit resources to help rebuilding the province.

If KZN is not helped back to health – by all of us – it could see more unrest fermenting among its angry and battered people.