Pretoria - A total of 6 256 flood-affected families have so far received immediate disaster relief from the Social Development Departmental Social Relief of Distress (SRD).
The fund is a temporary provision of assistance intended for persons in such dire material need that they are unable to meet their or their families' most basic needs.
Among the provinces, the highest number of households were assisted in Gauteng, with a total of 3 355 families. In the Ekurhuleni region, 1 000 households benefitted from the immediate disaster relief.
In Limpopo, a total of 950 needy households received aid, Eastern Cape 653; Northern Cape 687; North West 217 and KwaZulu-Natal 394. However, despite the assistance, 2 420 people are still on the waiting list.
Provinces that have not yet received requests from flood victims are Mpumalanga, Western Cape and the Free State.
Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, said: "The information from the South African Social Security Agency so far reveals that we have received more requests for assistance in Gauteng as compared to the other provinces.
"Our response thus far reflects our commitment to serve our people, especially in light of unforeseen natural disasters. We will therefore continue to accelerate our efforts to provide the much needed humanitarian relief to reach more families affected by the disasters."
Dlamini commended individuals and organisations who continue to work tirelessly on the ground to restore the normal functioning of affected families and communities.
"I wish to take this opportunity to thank the business sector, faith based organisations, community based organisations, social workers and volunteers for their humanitarian relief efforts to alleviate suffering and commend them for the speed with which this was done," she said.
