Relief efforts continue for flood-hit KZN

RELIEF efforts for those affected by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal are continuing, with the Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster giving thanks to the community groups that have volunteered and donated goods to the affected families.

In a media briefing yesterday led by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga and Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, the departments provided an update on the relief efforts.

The ministers in the cluster have at various times this week visited affected areas to assess the damage caused and to assist those in need.

The priority, they said, was providing immediate support to women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

Providing a rundown of the numbers, Phaahla reported that there are 98 shelters where over 8 400 people are being housed including at community halls, religious facilities, and other temporary structures within communities.

The majority of the people housed in shelters are 4 700 women, 1 700 children under 10 years of age, 1 000 older persons and 217 people with disabilities.

“Working with the province and local municipalities, where shelters are identified, the DSD (Department of Social Development) teams have been providing cooked meals, blankets and dignity packs, working with NPOs, churches, corporates and committee members, to displaced individuals. Our Community Nutrition and Development Centre have also been providing this support on a daily basis. Specific focus has been on children who have been displaced from schools and those who have lost family members or belongings,” Phaahla said.

He added that the teams have also been providing much needed psychosocial support and debriefings with families and individuals in affected communities. Social workers have reached more than 15 983 people in this regard, and these services are ongoing. Sassa has provided Social Relief of Distress to more than 3 000 people to the tune of almost R5 million, and purchased uniforms for pupils worth R372 000 targeting flood victims in eThekwini and iLembe Districts.

“The DSD national and provincial departments have been engaging with corporates and stakeholders to provide support in the form of urgent humanitarian relief for affected areas and has two dedicated storage facilities in Pietermaritzburg and Dube Trade Port in Durban.

“Many organisations, religious groups and community members have answered the call and provided support in a variety of forms including cash, food, clothes, sanitary towels, to mention a few. Government also received donations and pledges from various countries through their embassies, which is welcomed with much appreciation,” Phaahla said.

He further reported that a total of 66 health facilities were affected by the heavy downpour, resulting in mainly roof leaks and flooding.

Phaahla said there had been minimal disruption to health-care services in the most affected districts, however, the cost estimate for the repairs was in the region of R185m.

While water has been partially restored in some facilities, there were others that were still supplied through water tankers.

An additional seven sessional pathologists have been brought in to expedite the post-mortems. A total of 363 post mortems have been conducted so far.

Phaala explained that since all deaths because of the heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding were determined to be unnatural, in terms of the law, there was a legal obligation to conduct these post-mortems.

Motshekga said the basic education sector was also severely affected by the flooding as more than 630 schools were affected. Of those, 101 schools were inaccessible and 124 have suffered extensive damage.

“We can confirm that 64 learners have been reported to be deceased, while five are still missing. One educator and one food handler have also passed away,” she said.