State of disaster in four provinces as floods claim 67 lives in Eastern Cape

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has announced the classification of a national state of disaster due to the recent bad weather.

This comes after Hlabisa initially announced that 57 people had died in the Eastern Cape since Monday due to snowfall, wind and heavy rain.

“The figures of 57 are not just numbers. These are human beings. Some of them are breadwinners and some of them are the only children in their families.”

Death toll rises to 67

“This is a very big number to have been lost in a single natural disaster,” the minister said during a media briefing on Thursday afternoon in Mthatha.

Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Zolile Williams later said he received reports of more fatalities from across the province. Williams said this takes the death toll to 67.

The 67 people confirmed dead include six pupils from the group of 10 swept away by rising water on Tuesday. The driver and his assistant were also declared dead.

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Four children are still missing.

Hlabisa apologised to the pupils’ parents and acknowledged that the tragedy should never have happened.

The minister also provided an update on the measures deployed by the government so far to assist flood-stricken residents in the Eastern Cape.

Search-and-rescue operations in Eastern Cape

“The search-and-rescue services are fully deployed. Every effort was invested here from government departments and humanitarian points of view,” he said.

By midday Thursday, pathologists had completed postmortems on the 49 bodies confirmed dead on Wednesday.

Hlabisa said there’s a need for the government to speak in one voice against allowing residents to stay in floodplains in order to prevent deadly situations like those in the Eastern Cape.

Watch the latest media briefing here:

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“We cannot keep on losing people simply because they chose to build on floodplains. We need to collectively work together with municipalities and our traditional leaders to identify safe areas where people will have to be relocated,” he said.

The minister announced that the state of national disaster extends to the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.

He said there will be no need for a declaration, as the classification is sufficient to activate necessary intervention steps. He added that on 7 July, he will return to the Eastern Cape to announce the disaster grant interventions.

National state of disaster classified in four provinces

“The major responsibility lies with the four provinces to collect data so that necessary steps can be done to intervene at the earliest,” Hlabisa said.

Regarding the identification process, the minister said families had successfully identified only six of the confirmed victims.

He urged communities from affected areas to come forward and participate in the identification process. He also urged neighbours who haven’t seen others since the storms to come forward and assist with identifying the deceased.

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Williams later confirmed that the number of bodies identified by families increased to about 21.

On Thursday, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Qwarube visited one of the pupils who survived the minibus accident, as well as the families whose children are still missing or were declared dead.

Qwarube said that the department will provide psycho-social support to pupils affected by the floods to help them cope with the trauma.

Ramaphosa visits Eastern Cape on Friday

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he will visit Mthatha on Friday during the Green Hydrogen Summit.

“I will be going to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape tomorrow to be with our people who are suffering, to console them and to give support. We pay our condolences to the families that have lost loved ones in the flood disaster,” the president said.