Pretoria - The private sector has extended a helping hand towards flood relief in South Africa - a move that has been welcomed and encouraged by government.
This comes after Vodacom and banking giant Absa pledged to offer contributions towards rebuilding and rehabilitating flood-stricken areas, according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson, Vuyelwa Qinga.
"Government has applauded the initiative shown by the private sector with offers of contributions towards the rebuilding and rehabilitation process, with Absa and Vodacom already having approached government with contributions," she said.
Due to the continued heavy rains, many parts of the country have experienced flash floods. A total 41 lives have been lost as a result of flooding, lightning and storms, with hundreds more being left homeless.
Municipalities and disaster management services around the country are continuing to assess the damage caused to infrastructure, homes and farming land.
A total of 33 municipalities in eight provinces have been hit hard by the heavy floods. They have since been declared disaster areas in terms of the Disaster Management Act, which will mean quicker help for those affected. Government has so far provided shelter, food parcels and counseling to stranded families.
"This will then be followed by quantifying the damage, after which the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) and engineering experts will do their own assessment and verification, which will allow them to make recommendations for funding from the National Treasury," Qinga said.
In some provinces, the initial costs of the damage have already been added up, giving an indication of funding that will be needed for the long process of rebuilding damaged infrastructure.
The funding support and assistance will largely go towards humanitarian relief, repairs and rehabilitation of public infrastructure, agricultural relief (infrastructure, livestock and crops) and repairs to houses.
In the North West, the damage has been calculated to about R80.3 million, R300 million in KwaZulu-Natal, R50 million in the Northern Cape and R150 million in the Eastern Cape.
National Disaster Management and engineering experts will still do their own assessment and verification of the assessments done by local municipalities.
Due to the La Nina effect on the climate, rains are expected to continue up to May and even beyond in South Africa.
Communities are advised to be in constant contact with their local municipalities for assistance and advice where possible, and monitor media reports for warnings and other useful information to avert possible further loss of life and destruction to property.
