Mozambique bears the brunt

IT’S difficult not to be on tenterhooks when a tropical storm approaches the south-eastern extent of our continent, because most of us remember only too well the ravages of 2000. Then, at almost the same time, our neighbour Mozambique was under the cosh, with flooding extending the length and breadth of the lowlands, washing away what little infrastructure there was at a horrific cost to human life, livestock and arable land.

By the time the flood waters abated, 700 people and 20 000 head of cattle had perished and 14 000km2 of farmland had washed away. It was the worst disaster in 50 years to hit the war-torn country.

As tropical storm Dineo makes landfall, our rescue services are on standby again. The omens are not good – seven people have died, hundreds have been left homeless after the storm destroyed their dwellings.

Our people have been asked to exercise caution as the storm moves further west, with torrential rain expected in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. We will be okay; we have the resources and the skills. Mozambique though has neither, at least not at the level that we enjoy.

The country has yet to recover from the ravages wrought by the dawn of the millennium, many people live in shacks with unreliable water supply, exposed to waterborne disease like cholera or typhoid.

The question we should be asking is why? Why have they not recovered? What is being done to break this cycle, pertinently to protect them from what is becoming a regular occurrence thanks to the vagaries of global warming and its damning effects on climate patterns?

The world appears strangely mute when it comes to Mozambique. As neighbours, we must help, but we cannot be expected to shoulder the burden alone. It is time for the people of Mozambique to get their lives back.