259 dead in 'catastrophe of enormous proportions'
President Cyril Ramaphosa says hundreds are feared dead in the KwaZulu-Natal floods as officials take stock of the damage.
The provincial Department of Cooperative Governance confirmed on Wednesday that the floods have claimed the lives of at least 259 people.
Ramaphosa alongside Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala and a contingency of provincial MEC visited the areas hardest hit by the floods.
Ramaphosa decried the extent of damage to property and the loss of lives, adding the disaster was estimated to be the worst seen by the province in recent years.
The death toll surpasses the number of people killed in the 2019 floods in the province.
"The heavy rain has been the worst in recent year.
"The situation is bad," he told community members.
President @CyrilRamaphosa says it’s feared that well over 100 people have been killed as a result #KZNFloods #KZNFlooding @ECR_Newswatch Ramaphosa is briefing members of the media in Ntuzuma pic.twitter.com/bUlwnYp6sZ
— Nushera Soodyal (@nushera) April 13, 2022
Ramaphosa added Treasury would be rallied for more relief funds while govt prepares to declare the province a disaster area.
"We are making preparations. KZN is going to be declared as a provincial area of disaster so that laws can kick in and we are able do things quickly.
"The bridges have collapsed. the roads have collapsed. People have died, our people are injured. This is a catastrophe of enormous proportions, " said Ramaphosa.
Government has come under fire this week for a lack of preparedness for natural disasters.
Ramaphosa admitted his administration needed to ramp up its response.
"This disaster is obviously part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here. We can no longer postpone what we need to do, the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.
"Our disaster management capability needs to be at a higher level. That we are going to process as we go on."
