Pretoria - Government has stepped up interventions to assist areas affected by floods and minimise the loss of life.
The Ministry for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), which is chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked with dealing with the floods, has "tightened its grip on floods with various coordination structures, across the country."
"Government across all three spheres has intensified its humanitarian efforts in various areas that are affected by floods. A National Joint Committee, which has been established by CoGTA to coordinate support to victims and minimise loss of lives, has put in place systems to activate swift assistance to local authorities when the need arises," said a statement issued by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
It said various organisations and individuals have come on board to work with government in providing blankets and food to displaced people in various shelters across the country.
A total of 88 people have lost their lives to date as a direct result the disaster. This figure accounts for all eight provinces with area that have been declared disaster zone.
KwaZulu-Natal province has so far experienced the most deaths as a result of various disaster related causes - with 21 deaths reporter from mid-December to date. Mpumalanga and Free State have reported the least number of deaths, two people each.
Preliminary reports from North West, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and KZN indicate that from mid December to date, a total of 321 injuries have been linked to the current disaster. Gauteng, Free State and Mpumalanga provinces injuries figures are yet to be confirmed.
The preliminary reports also indicate that damaged infrastructure includes schools, roads, water treatment plants, public facilities, water drainage systems, bridges, electricity poles, telephone lines, churches and municipal infrastructure.
While National Disaster Management Centre is yet to do a comprehensive assessments and verification of damage cost, several provinces have indicated their estimated damage monitory value:
- Limpopo estimates R 1 324 964 345;
- North West R 123 300 000;
- Eastern Cape R 78 500 000;
- Mpumalanga R 174 000 000;
- KZN R715 000 000;
- Free State R7.7 billion
Estimated damage cost figures from Gauteng and Northern Cape provinces are still outstanding.
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs declared a State of National Disaster in 33 district municipalities under eight provinces. Western Cape is the only province so far where state of disaster has not been declared.
Meanwhile, the Department of Water Affairs is constantly monitoring the water level of dams around the country to issue early warning if the levels exceed the dams' capacity and sluice gates need to be opened.
