Pretoria - With the incessant rains introducing a whole new dynamic to the lives of millions of South Africans, the nation has joined hands to deliver much needed relief to those who have been most adversely affected by the floods.
The Department of Social Development, business sector, civil society and faith based organisations have formed a task team, which will primarily coordinate humanitarian assistance to people across the country.
"The function of this team is to ... respond to the immediate emergency priority needs, while at the same time, laying the foundations for early and eventual long-term recovery of the affected communities," said Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, during a media briefing on Sunday.
An amount of R145 million has been set aside to address people's needs. Currently, R5 million is being processed by the department to go to KwaZulu-Natal, while other provinces are still forwarding requests for assistance.
Preliminary numbers indicate that those in need of help are well into the thousands, with more than 100 deaths reported nationally - 88 of these having been reported in KwaZulu-Natal.
Dlamini said one death was one too many. "I would like to assure all South Africans that our government will continue to do all in its powers to mitigate the risks of any further loss of life ... This government and its social partners are committed to those most vulnerable in times of crisis, particularly women, older persons and children."
Since December last year, the country has been experiencing heavy rain fall, which has destroyed property and infrastructure at many sites.
Various provinces, especially Gauteng, North West, Free State, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, have been hard hit. Twenty-eight municipalities have since been declared national disaster areas.
Dlamini said the department wanted to focus more on the Northern Cape as it was one of the provinces that had the least access to resources. "Gift of the Givers will go to the province on Tuesday to provide relief," she said.
In case of emergency, people are urged to call 10177/10111 or 112 from their cell phones.
