Six-year-old boy among lives lost in EC flood disaster

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy is among several people to have lost their lives to raging floods that battered parts of the Eastern Cape province last week.

The severe weather conditions, which affected KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Eastern Cape, resulted in injuries, loss of life and severe damage to property and infrastructure in the provinces.

Widespread damage has been reported in areas within the Alfred Nzo District, Joe Gqabi and OR Tambo District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape.

OR Tambo District Municipality announced this week that 885 households in Port St Johns have been left destitute.

Municipality spokesperson Zimkhita Macingwane said the torrential rains also claimed the lives of seven members in the district.

“The seventh victim is a six-yearold boy from the Ngidi family.

“The young boy drowned at Manyekeni river in ward 16 in Port St Johns. His body was recovered on Friday last week.

“Two other members of our communities sustained injuries after houses collapsed on them during the heavy rains. The district also suffered severe damages to various households.

“So far, the Disaster and Risk Management teams are continuing with risk assessment, which started immediately after the first incidents were reported.

“The impact of the flooding in KZN and Eastern Cape has been declared a disaster by government. “After the declaration, government leaders will be visiting the district in order to assess the impact and provide support to the communities of the region,“Macingwane said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday postponed his visit to the province to assess flood damage in the communities.

“The postponement will allow provincial authorities to continue assessment of community needs and gather data that will inform a future engagement between the President, the province, local government and other stakeholders,” said acting spokesperson for the president, Tyrone Seale.

A new date will be announced in due course, he said.

South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) provincial Manager, Dr Eileen Carter said the commission would be monitoring the situation.

“The Commission again calls on communities to respect and observe each other’s rights in the midst of the challenges experienced at this time, and report any human rights concerns to its offices accordingly,“Carter said.

Ramaphosa is meanwhile set to appear before the joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament to make an

executive statement on the national state of disaster in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.

Ramaphosa’s appearance will take place on the same day the National Assembly will form a joint ad hoc committee to oversee the national state of disaster in the wake of floods in KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country.

This emerged when the national Assembly programme committee held its usual Thursday meeting.

In her opening address to the committee, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said she received a letter from Ramaphosa on Wednesday calling for a hybrid joint sitting at 2pm on Tuesday.

“This is to ensure elected representatives of the people of our country can be directly involved in the oversight of the work that is needed to provide relief and repairs,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.

She also said she received another letter from ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina on April 18 proposing the establishment of an ad hoc committee to exercise oversight on the national state of disaster in KwaZulu-Natal.

“I am informed that the matter was discussed on the chief whip forum and there is an understanding that the National Assembly will establish the ad hoc on April 26 after the joint sitting, which will be addressed by the president.”

EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu said there should be firm resolution and agreement that if Ramaphosa has requested the joint sitting to address the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, political parties should be given space to say something as well.

“If he is just going to address us and say it’s done, he might as well call a press conference and say the same thing he was to say there.

“If there is going to be a joint sitting there has to be responses from all parties,” Shivambu said.

Majodina said they fully agreed that parties should have an opportunity to comment.