The KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) has received a second tranche of flood repair funding which will see an estimated 401 further projects undertaken.

Officially confirmed by KDM mayor Lindile Nhaca at council last Friday, the funding will total R1.2b, supplanting the initial grant of R109m received last year.

The funding was not confirmed at the time of the draft budget presentation last week, but will be included in the final budget so that work can commence in the 2023/24 financial year beginning in July.

“The impact of this addition will not just be limited to the capital budget as the municipality will need to also account for the interest revenue, additional depreciation, and other operational impacts of these funds,” said Nhaca.

Grant funds come by way of the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), to which the municipality submitted a proposal following the April 2022 floods.

An amount of R109m was issued, with further drawdowns needing to be found in the national budget for larger sums.

“The municipality submitted a list of damages and repairs that would need to be undertaken to the NDMC. It is from this submission that the two grant amounts have been issued,” said KDM spokesperson, Sipho Mkhize.

Thirty key projects were identified for repair with the initial funds, which, combined with council’s allocation, totalled R175m.

Project implementation was far from seamless however, with KDM having to secure an extension on the time period to fully spend the R109m.

The most recent project undertaken from the initial grant was that of the repair of the Riverside Bridge in Lindelani, which was partially washed away in the floods.

A six-month repair began on March 17, which was budgeted at just over R6m.

It was one of the final projects shepherded by outgoing executive director of Civil Engineering and Human Settlements, Muzi Sithole, who will leave KDM at the end of this month.

KDM has since passed a preferential procurement policy intended to streamline project implementation, but it remains to be seen how well this change will work.

“The funds will be disbursed under the auspice of a task team that will work around the clock to ensure that it delivers quality project outputs on time.

“In addition, we will be undertaking oversight visits to all project sites on a fortnightly basis,” said Nhaca.

The timeline for repair work to be undertaken is currently unclear, with more information expected as the budget for the 2023/24 year is finalised.

Residents can expect more detail during the public participation process of the budget over the next month.