KwaZulu-Natal was ravaged by fatal floods, and Deputy President David Mabuza asserts that the government is committed to assisting families who were seriously affected by the disaster.
“We are recommitting to remedying the situation that was caused by the floods by ensuring that we urgently put an end to the misery currently faced by communities, families and individuals affected by the disaster in eThekwini,” he said.
On Thursday, the Deputy President was addressing questions in the National Assembly.
The so-called “April floods” killed over 400 people, devastated thousands of houses and infrastructure, and left hundreds of others missing.
According to Deputy President Mabuza, the damaged essential infrastructure, which included electricity lines and pipes, hampered government delivery of basic services in the eThekwini Municipality.
Meanwhile, he said that National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) had collaborated with the KwaZulu-Natal government to identify and reallocate resources to react to the situation and fill any deficiencies.
Furthermore, several programmes are being pushed out to impacted areas at varying phases of implementation.
“We want to confirm that the process hasn’t been as smooth as anticipated to be even though we have a multidisciplinary system. There were still problems with planning, execution and keeping track of projects,” he admitted.
According to the Deputy President, the delays were caused by factors such as inadequate project management and policy red tape.
“We want to take this opportunity to apologise to all affected communities, families and individuals who have been subjected to this situation for a long time.”
Meanwhile, he said that the government will improve intergovernmental cooperation across the three branches of government and commit to taking action on a specific timeline.
“We have located land for sustainable human settlement near the places of work.”
The Deputy President has since called on all stakeholders to hold hands with government and commit to sustainable and disaster-proof environments.
Furthermore, he noted that the disbursement of funding in disaster zones should be “quick,” with no space for corruption.
“Again, we want to say, apologies for these delays and we hope to see improvements,” said the Deputy President.