The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) will lead a team of government officials from various departments on a visit by the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) to assess the general impact caused by the recent floods in different parts of the country.
The Provincial Disaster Management Centres have in the past visited the areas, provided the required support and assessed the damages in the villages, cities and town affected. Various Ministers have also paid visits to areas affected by the various disasters, including the floods.
The NDMC-led visits will take place over three days, from the 7th to the 9th of February 2010, and will cover all provinces in an effort to re-assess and verify from the NDMC and national sector department’s point of view the extent of the damages incurred in particularly the 33 municipalities declared as disaster areas, and any other affected villages and towns.
A consolidation of the initial assessments by provinces has put the cost of the damages at over a billion rand.
The visit is in preparation for engineers and all other experts from different sectors, who will be dispatched to all the provinces to assess, verify the provincial assessments and determine the financial impact caused by the current floods so far.
The assessment teams will be comprised of members of the National Joint Committee on disasters (NATJOC) which was set up by the NDMC under the leadership of CoGTA to coordinate government assistance and support to people who are affected by the current floods and other disasters that have hit the country since December 2010.
Currently NATJOC includes national departments of Water Affairs; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Social Development; Transport; Health; South African Police Service; State Security; and the South African National Defence Force.
The Committee’s visits will result in a consolidated national assessment report which will form the basis for the work of the engineers who will at a later stage be sent to provinces to conduct the final assessment and verification of the provincial reports on the damages when the current floods have subsided.
Meanwhile, current estimates indicate that from mid-December to 1 February 2011, a total of 91 people have sadly lost their lives as a result of all the forms of natural disasters that have struck in various areas of the country, including severe storms, lightning and floods. A total number of damaged houses is 13 043 while the estimated number of reported injuries is 321. Additional damage has been incurred to public infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, clinics and churches.
Government humanitarian assistance in the form of food, shelter, blankets etc has been provided by provincial disaster management centres. In addition, humanitarian non-governmental organisations, the private sector and private individuals have also contributed humanitarian aid to affected people.
Organisations and private companies are called upon to make financial contributions to a Disaster Relief Fund government has established in partnership with the South African Red Cross Society. The account number is:
Bank: Standard Bank
Account name: The South African Red Cross Society
Account number: 070 822 808
Branch: Thibault Square
Branch code: 020-909
Vodacom has donated half a million rands towards victims of the natural disasters and has further invited its customers to join it with their own contributions via the Vodacom Red Alert programme launched early last year. The Vodacom Red Alert initiative provides a technology-based platform through which customers can donate R5, R10 or R20 towards a specific natural disaster.
Absa has also made a R1-million contribution towards disaster relief efforts.
Source: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
