Rebuilding continues
MORE than 450 bodies were recovered during the April floods last year, and 71 bodies are still missing.
This emerged during a media briefing by Mxolisi Kaunda, eThekwini’s mayor, at the Mega City Sizakala Centre in uMlazi on Tuesday. This week commemorates a year since the floods.
Kaunda and the chairpersons of committees in the municipality assessed the progress the city had made to repair infrastructure that was damaged. They started off at Bellamont Road in Umdloti, which was affected by mudslides, and thereafter they handed over a house to a flood victim in Durban south.
The officials also inspected the progress on the repair of the collapsed bridge and sewer lines over the uMlazi River. Kaunda said rescue efforts were challenging due to the mudslides that occurred during the floods.
“Even the dogs weren’t able to search for missing members due to the gravity of the slides.
“We are still aiming to find the missing people and are with the families who are still grieving.
“It must be painful not to have yet buried your loved ones. We are keeping our eyes on the rivers, as the bodies may appear there.”
He said being on the coast meant the city needed to be prepared for future floods. Kaunda added that there were plans in place to prevent previouslyaffected areas from suffering further flood damage.
“There is no way of preventing another flood in totality. Climate change and global warming means we have to prepare for the worsening of our climate, which could lead to more disasters. We have to look after the environment and fight illegal mining.
“We have to educate communities about depositing foreign objects in rivers, irrigation systems and gutters. Clogged drains due to illegal dumping are the reason why certain areas are flooded.”
Kaunda said the municipality was not responsible for compensation, and that the project had been spearheaded by a committee from the Motsepe Foundation.
“The Motsepe Foundation graciously donated R30 million for families to be able to bury their loved ones. As the municipality, we only submitted applications to them, and they were in charge of the distribution of funds.”
He said he was not aware of seven families living in tents in a churchyard in Eastbury in Phoenix and assured that the families would be moved from the tents soon.
Kaunda said more funding was needed but the plan to move all flood victims to permanent homes by the end of next year was in progress. He said it was important to garner support from, and work together with, community members and businesses.
Meanwhile, Solly Suleman, the chairperson of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, said: “Whether formal or informal, business sectors’ structures, properties and goods were damaged or completely destroyed.
“KZN infrastructure, which was already not in its best state, took further damage causing major inconvenience to businesses and residents. With an already volatile economic climate from Covid-19 lockdowns, then the
KZN riots in 2021, the floods further contributed to this.
“Many businesses have not been able to recover from these recent occurrences and closed down negatively, impacting and contributing to job losses.
“With the infrastructure from the flood damage still not attended to, further non-maintenance to essential services has also negatively affected the operations of businesses.
“As a business chamber we urge the leadership to attend to these matters urgently to avoid further damage to businesses and the economy.”