United Nations to visit flood-ravaged KZN

The United Nations (UN) in South Africa has arrived in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) as part of a three-day visit to the flood-ravaged province. 

The technical team, comprising of members from various UN agencies are expected to meet with Provincial Disaster Management Centre and eThekwini Municipality officials to assess where the United Nations Development System can lend a helping hand.

“We have been supporting the province following the floods in 2019 and the civil unrest of 2021 and will continue to support rebuilding efforts to ensure that no one is left behind as part of the Memorandum of Understanding that we have in place with the provincial leadership in that province,” said Acting Resident Coordinator for the UN in South Africa Ayodele Odusola.

 We stand committed and ready to assist where needed,” he added.

As of Sunday, 17 488 households have been affected by the disaster wherein 121 687 people were affected. 

To date, 485 people have lost their lives while 54 are still reported missing.

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala on Sunday said a total of 6 278 people are currently homeless and that 7 245 remain in shelters in eThekwini.

Construction of residential temporary units has started, with 4 000 temporary residential units to be ready by the end of the week.

 Zikalala said they are expecting to start building houses in 6 months as temporary units can’t become permanent.

He said their objective is to ensure that all areas have water, electricity and road access restored as soon as possible so that normality is restored in all parts of the province.

This will come at a great cost, as more than R1.9 billion is needed to complete the work for disaster relief.

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