KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, says progress is being made in rebuilding water schemes that were washed away during the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this year.
Giving a progress report on interventions and recovery measures, Dube-Ncube said the province is on course to ensure the full restoration of water supply to the greater Othongathi by November 2022.
“Repairs are underway on sewer networks and sewer pump stations. It is intended that most of these repairs will be completed by the end of November 2022.
“The reconstruction of roads and infrastructure, especially in the Southern Basin which became a scene of major destruction following the collapse of the Shongweni Dam, is well underway. The damage in this part of the province impacted negatively on the economy and affected companies such as Toyota and Transnet,” Dube-Ncube said.
However, Dube-Ncube acknowledged that while services that were disrupted have been restored in many areas, the province is still faced with the challenge of building back better, especially where infrastructure was completely washed away.
R406m allocated to affected municipalities
On disaster funding, the Premier reported that the Department of Cooperative Governance, through the National Disaster Management Centre, coordinated the submission of funding requests for emergency relief measures from organs of State which incurred damages due to flooding.
To date, she said R406.8 million has been received by the affected municipalities to perform various works.
“The eThekwini grant of R185 087 026 has been approved and was transferred to the metro on 7 September 2022,” Dube-Ncube said.
Flood relief donor account gets over R7m
The Premier also announced that as at 2 September, R7 650 279.58 had been donated through a dedicated bank account, an increase of R3 412 000.00 from R4 235 603.24.
The Provincial Flood Disaster account number 4103831039 was opened with ABSA by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government towards the rebuilding process.
“We thank all those who have been able to come to the aid of those affected by the disaster. As determined by the donors, some of this money will go towards the Department of Education and Health, while the remaining will be shared between the Departments of Social Development and Human Settlements,” said Dube-Ncube.
Unidentified bodies
Meanwhile, Dube-Ncube reported that at least 27 bodies, which were discovered after the floods, have still not been identified.
“Of these, 12 profiles were generated but not identified. So far, five cases have been positively linked with families, while two cases have returned a negative result, and will have to be reconducted,” she said.
The Premier said the provincial government understands the frustration of the families over the pace og the DNA service, and they are doing their best to get this completed to enable families to find closure.
