Pretoria - Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Lechesa Tsenoli says despite the heavy rains that are causing havoc in certain parts of the country, no province has been declared a disaster area.
“No province has been declared a disaster and the latest report as of yesterday was that provinces and their respective municipalities so far are coping with such instances,” he said, adding that it is still early to determine the cost of the floods.
The country has been hit by heavy rains over the past few weeks which has led to flooding in certain areas, such as Lephalale in Limpopo.
Minister Tsenoli was speaking during a Post State of the Nation Address (SoNA) briefing on local government on Friday.
According to Minister Tsenoli, provinces which are mostly hit by the floods caused by the on-going heavy rains are Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and certain parts of the Gauteng province, while the Free State province has been placed on high alert as a result of water management and the catchment dams.
Deputy Minister Andries Nel added that government is closely monitoring the floods situation through the National Disaster Management Centre.
“We’ve detailed information on a municipality by municipality bases, the situation in some of those municipalities is quite critical such as Lephalale in Limpopo, where the municipality is considering to apply for disaster to be declared at a municipal level,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
