Departments total up costs
THE mop-up in the aftermath of the ferocious storm which tore through KwaZulu-Natal earlier this week is expected to run into hundreds of millions of rand.
Counting the cost yesterday were eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede, MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, Human Settlement and Public Works MEC Ravi Pillay, as well as acting Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Weziwe Thusi, who visited several areas ravaged by the storm.
Thusi said government’s focus was on recovery and providing relief but assessments of damages were under way. “We will only know the figures when these assessments have been completed,” she said.
Crossy
Following a site inspection at King Edward Hospital, Pillay said at this hospital alone, six areas needed immediate intervention. This meant they would not wait for normal procurement processes.
The estimated R25 million to repair what was mostly roof damage in the outpatient department waiting area, ultrasound, theatre, maternity and other areas, would be dealt with as an emergency.
Pillay said it looked, judging by the damage to this hospital, as if the damage to all storm- ravaged areas in the province would run into hundreds of millions.
But a disaster could not yet be declared.
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the departments of health, education and transport met the Treasury. The departments were requested to submit reports on the damages within the next two days for these to be incorporated into the mid-term adjustment budget which catered for cost not budgeted for at the beginning of the financial year, he said.
“That is done so that with our own provincial fiscus we can begin to do some things. There are certain things that can’t wait,” said Dhlomo.
The Department of Education would act with urgency to ensure pupils at the nine high schools which were damaged would have venues for the start of their final exams. At the uMlazi ComTech High School, the storm ripped the roofs off several classrooms and the exam hall was flooded.
These were among the 42 schools affected in the province.
Thusi said infrastructure damage included blocked and flooded roads, 19 collapsed buildings and perimeter walls, blocked stormwater drains and sewer lines, flooded buildings and households and power outages.
The cost to the families of the 11 people who lost their lives is even higher.
One such family, is that of Sizakala Chala. The 29-yearold woman was one of the two people who died when a brick shelter collapsed at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.
Her teary sister Zandile and aunt Ntombikayise Dube, said Sizakele had taken her 7-day-old daughter to the hospital for a check-up when she was caught in the torrent. “We were told that when the bricks came down, she threw her baby at someone else, saving her,” said Dube.
The little girl, Slondiwe, was admitted but not injured. While the family is mourning the loss of Sizakele, they are grateful that Slondiwe is alive and will raise her along with her brother Thabani, 9.