PICS: Mass funeral underway in PMB for KZN flood victims

A mass funeral is underway for one KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) family who lost six members of their household – including five small children – during the devastating floods of April.

Four members of the Mdlalose family are still missing.

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala is currently at the funeral in Pietermarizburg to pay his respects to the Mdlalose family.

At least 437 people died in the floods that wreaked havoc in the province.

NOW READ: KZN flood death toll revised down to 435, some bodies found to have bullet wounds

State of disaster

Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the national state of disaster for KZN enables mobilisation of more resources, as a provincial state of disaster was inadequate. 

Speaking during his first national address related to the KZN floods, the president said the  national state of disaster for the KZN floods would be gazetted shortly to ensure an “effective response across all spheres of government.”

He further explained that this designation also enables the mobilisation of more resources and as such, cabinet felt that a provincial state of disaster was inadequate. 

“To ensure an effective response to these tragic events, the National Disaster Management Centre last week classified the flooding as a provincial disaster. This was followed by the declaration of the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal to invoke extraordinary measures to deal with the situation.”

READ MORE: KZN floods: National State of Disaster will leave no room for corruption

Meanwhile, the port of Durban gradually resumed operations on 24 April to discharge, and food, medical supplies and petrol had been prioritised.