Dear Editor
A report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the KwaZulu-Natal floods earlier this year has vindicated the DA’s sustained exposure of the province’s ANC-run government and the eThekwini Metro’s inability to properly respond to disaster of any kind.
The report was presented to parliament’s ad hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery yesterday.
On 27 July 2022, the DA wrote to the SAHRC (view here) to highlight the plight of flood victims. This after our own extensive oversights revealed a government that simply did not care with disaster mechanisms at local, provincial and national government level all failing in a situation that has now persisted for months.
Included in the SAHRC findings are;
• Ongoing acute water supply and water infrastructure issues
• Unclaimed bodies in mortuaries across the province
• Limited healthcare services during the disaster period and a lack of adequate psychosocial support
• Unsafe, overcrowded living conditions for flood victims living in shelters and Temporary residential units (TRUs)
• A loss of critical documentation with little to no intervention by government departments and;
• A direct and indirect impact on the right to education with children losing their belongings and infrastructure damage at more than 500 KZN schools.
While the DA welcomes the SAHRC report to the committee, we are yet to receive a response, other than an acknowledgement to our correspondence to the Commission. We now await this with a sense of urgency. Thousands of floods victims still reside in community halls, almost half a year later, with little or no solution in sight.
Included in our concerns is the province’s sewage crisis with effluent flowing into rivers, the sea and down the roads in some communities as a result of infrastructure that remains damaged. This issue has already been raised by DA MP, Tim Brauteseth and the DA will not allow the matter to rest.
The floods have exposed that this ANC-run government is completely unprepared for any kind of disaster in KZN and that it lacks the ability to govern efficiently and effectively. That the different tiers of government are now playing a blame game while communities continue to suffer is unacceptable.
The DA will continue to apply pressure on all spheres of government in a bid to ensure that the needs of KZN’s people – in particular those who have been devastated by the floods – are prioritised.
Regards
Francois Rodgers, MPL
DA KZN Leader
