Statement by Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi on the occasion of a media briefing to provide broad update KwaZulu-Natal disaster, 15 April 2022, Archie Gumede Conference Centre.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, Members of the media
The floods have been devastating, people have lost lives, people have lost houses, people have lost properties and other personal belongings. Many people have become homeless especially women and child headed homes.
Mud houses, settlements located close to rivers and waterways have been severely affected and some houses and shelters have been swept away. Informal settlements were among the most affected.
Preliminary assessment report from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human settlements indicates that there more than 13 500 households affected, 3937 houses destroyed, and 8039 houses partially destroyed.
Below is latest preliminary information on how the floods have affected Districts in the Province:
|
District |
Number of Households Affected |
Number of Destroyed Houses |
Number of Partially Destroyed Houses |
|
Umzinyathi |
32 |
29 |
03 |
|
Amajuba |
60 |
0 |
19 |
|
uMgungundlovu |
88 |
28 |
66 |
|
uThukela |
109 |
67 |
49 |
|
Ugu |
601 |
511 |
90 |
|
Zululand |
119 |
26 |
93 |
|
uMkhanyakude |
21 |
17 |
04 |
|
King Cetshwayo |
150 |
49 |
103 |
|
iLembe |
921 |
210 |
412 |
|
Ethekwini Metro |
11 492 |
3000 |
7200 |
|
TOTAL |
13 593 |
3 937 |
8 039 |
As I was interacting with the affected families in the places we have visited today and having seen the devastating conditions they found themselves in, I could not imagine the kind of pain they were going through.
All I could think about was, what we as government can do as quickly as possible to bring some relief to the people of KwaZulu-Natal. The least we can do as government is to ensure that we move very quickly to bring tangible solutions to affected families. We cannot recover the lost lives but we can ensure that the survivors of this devastating floods are given some relief, through the provision of shelter and other social amenities.
A day or a week that goes by with people living in halls or without shelter is a call to all of us, to our conscience not to allow us to go to sleep without finding solutions.
In order to ensure immediate response, funding has been reprioritised in line with Section 19 (6) (a) of DORA, 2022. This has allowed that the human settlements grants mentioned above be reprioritised to alleviate the impact of the disaster.
To put this into effect, a revised cash flows were submitted to National Treasury on 14 April 2022 and positive response has been received.
The payments will be processed next week. This will allow an amount of approximately R1bn to flow to the Province from the National Department of Human Settlements.
For the 2021/22 financial year, eThekwini has two sources of funding it can immediately tap into, namely, the amount of R539 million from Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) and an additional amount of R143m that was recently allocated to Informal Settlements Upgrading Grant (ISUPG). Consultation is underway to request that these amounts be reprioritised to address the current disaster. However, these can only be used if the Metro has not committed them in terms of any statutory or contractual obligation.
Contribution and Pledges from Human Settlements Entities:
COMMUNITY SCHEMES OMBUD SERVICE (CSOS)
CSOS will contribute about R30 million of the balance of the retained surplus the 2020/21 financial year subject to approval by National Treasury.
NATIONAL HOMEBUILDERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL (NHBRC)
NHBRC will support the Province in conducting technical assessments to determine the extent of structural damage to homes. In addition, the NHBRC will reprioritise its operational budget to provide for Corporate Social Investment (CSI).
SOCIAL HOUSING REGULATORY AUTHORITY (SHRA)
An amount of R100 million from the Residential Rent Relief Grant will be reallocated to the disaster relief endeavours, subject to requisite approval processes.
NATIONAL HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION LTD (NHFC)
An amount of R150 million from the Debt Relief Programme will be reallocated to the disaster relief endeavours, subject to requisite approval processes. The NHFC will also contribute an additional R 2million from their Corporate Social Investment (CSI). This means that in total, the NHFC will contribute R 152 million. This entity will also avail its project management capacity for the rebuilding and reconstruction of houses in KZN.
To bring relief to the affected areas and households, these interventions have to be swift and of acceptable quality.
• We will do everything in our power to ensure that resources we put for the disaster relief reaches the intended beneficiaries and are used for the intended purpose. In this regard, the Auditor General’s office will work closely with us to keep a close eye on the utilisation of the resources. The Department of Monitoring and Evaluation will be working closely with us to monitor both the financial and the non-financial performance of this intervention.
• You will recall that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the last year July riots, there has been a shortage of building materials in the KwaZulu-Natal province. We call on suppliers to redirect the material supplies to the province so that we can be able to meet the demand for housing in the short term.
• We call on property developers and contractors that are going to assist us to work swiftly and deliver quality products, so that the people who have been affected can regain their dignity as quickly as possible.
I Thank You.
