South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday declared a national state of disaster over the deadly floods on the east coast, saying that rebuilding even basic services would take time.
“This is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a massive and urgent relief effort,” he said in a televised address. “The lives, health and well-being of thousands of people are still at risk.”
“The Port of Durban — which is one of the largest and busiest shipping terminals on the continent and which is vital to our country’s economy — has been severely affected,” he added.
Photo: Reuters
At least 443 people have died, with 48 still missing, around the east coast city of Durban, the president said.
Some badly damaged areas remain inaccessible, including 16 schools that are completely cut off, he said.
The state of disaster, similar to measures imposed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, unlocks more resources to assist those affected.
To ease concerns regarding corruption, which plagued COVID-19 efforts, Ramaphosa said that the government would create a special oversight body that would include the auditor general, business and religious groups, and professional associations of engineers and accountants.
Earlier on Monday, the military said that 10,000 troops have been deployed to help restore power and water, and search for the missing.
However, hopes for finding the missing were fading.
Clyde Naicker said his brother, Ronald, had been missing for a week, since he disappeared while trying to get to his job at a hospital.
“Apparently from what we heard, his vehicle got flooded and then he tried to go to safety,” Naicker said.
The family has been searching every day, but police only joined their effort on Monday.
For the hundreds of bodies that have been found, damaged roads and waterlogged cemeteries have made burials difficult.
“There are so many deceased, and the mortuaries cannot keep up because they have been so inundated,” said Pieter van der Westhuizen, general manager for funeral services at the Avbob insurance company.
“So it is taking a little longer to get the deceased buried,” he said.
The continuous rain had made it “very difficult to do burials,” KZN Funeral Directors Association representative Nasan Chetty said. “If we dig the graves and then come back to do the burial a few hours later it is water-logged.”
The normally azure waters at Durban’s beaches have been turned a muddy brown by the mountains of earth and debris washed to the shore.
The intensity of the floods took South Africa by surprise.
The country is still struggling to recover from COVID-19 and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, mostly in the now flood-struck southeastern region.
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