Officials responsible for emergency housing within the Department of Human Settlements have been directed to speed up the process of assisting flood-affected households in KZN.

The areas affected by the inclement weather include eThekwini townships such as Lamontville, Umlazi, uGu and King Cetshwayo district municipalities.

“We regret that the floods have resulted in the loss of life. Our deepest condolences to the families that lost their loved ones. I have impressed upon our team to work with other spheres of government and relevant institutions to assist the affected households,” said Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane in a statement.

“Key to this is the provision of emergency shelter. Our team will conduct the necessary assessment that will inform our intervention in line with our Emergency Housing Policy,” she added.

A team from the department is expected to conduct preliminary technical assessments and beneficiary registration.

These will inform possible interventions such as rebuilding the damaged structures, relocating the affected households and providing building materials to enable the affected to restore their damaged houses or structures.

Simelane appealed for maximum co-operation between government and other stakeholders including communities.

“It is only through co-operation that we will be able to effectively respond to housing emergencies such as this one,” Simelane said.

Accordingly, the department is already working with the provincial structures to ensure that affected households are assisted with adequate shelter.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Facebook, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements in the province, Siboniso Duma, expressed his condolences to the families who have lost loved ones following the adverse weather.

Duma, the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi and eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, among others, visited the bereaved families yesterday.

“This follows last night’s heavy rainfall that resulted in the collapse of houses, destruction of roads and people being washed away. An integrated approach involving all spheres of government has been adopted to assist affected families,” the KZN Department of Human Settlements said.

In addition, the eThekwini Municipality will assist with burials.

“Importantly, a decision has been made to move families living in flood-prone areas around Ward 74,” it added.

Duma announced that temporary residential units are being arranged for families whose houses collapsed.

Earlier this week, the South African Weather Service issued a yellow level 2 heavy rain warning for the province following widespread flooding.

On Tuesday, KZN Premier Thami Ntuli visited the families of those affected by the recent severe weather conditions in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban. – SAnews.gov.za

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