MBOMBELA – The provincial government has requested financial assistance from National Treasury for storm damage suffered by the province in March.
The total cost for flood-damage recovery and rehabilitation of flood-related damage was estimated at R535 million. However, since the provincial government had only managed to set aside R158 million, assistance has been requested, according to Mr Madala Masuku, MEC for finance. He made the announcement on Thursday after the cabinet’s final meeting.
“We have requested additional relief funding from National Treasury and are awaiting a response,” he said.
In March, Lowvelder reported that the heavy rain experienced in the province had caused widespread damage. The entire province experienced flooding and rescue workers from the Lowveld had their hands full in aiding people in danger. The sudden increased river flows and dam levels, resulting from the rain, flooded low-lying areas which damaged infrastructure.
The South African Weather Service indicated that nine weather stations in Mpumalanga recorded more than 100 millimetres of rain during the first 10 days of March. These were Komatidraai, Mbombela, Belfast, Skukuza, eMalahleni, Carolina, Ermelo, Kruger Mpumalanga International and Machadodorp.
The costs of the repairs also resulted from the provision of blankets, collapsible structures, tents, food parcels, and search-and-rescue missions. A total of
254 houses had reportedly been flooded in the affected municipalities of Nkomazi, Bushbuckridge and Mkhondo. Twelve fatalities were also recorded.
In April, a provincial disaster was proclaimed, and the national disaster management centre was duly informed. Masuku said it had since deployed its task team to verify the information and begin the classification process.
He explained that national government had funds to immediately aid in emergencies, but that certain repairs would take longer since, in some cases, the damaged structures had to be replaced by an improved unit, which would take more planning. He indicated that irreparably damaged structures were to be demolished once new structures had been built.
