Kaunda hopes SANDF will be in eThekwini by end of Tuesday
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda says they are waiting for the national government to deploy the army to assist areas affected by deadly floods.
Rescue workers have been battling heavy rainfall across several parts of KwaZulu-Natal while the death toll continues to rise.
The South African Weather Service has issued a level 8 warning for severe flooding in some areas.
Kaunda said they are assisting families that have been affected through intervention from social development and disaster management services.
“We are still receiving reports that the communication is being done to request the SANDF to come in, we are hoping that by end of today we will see them in the city assisting us to save lives. Our primary objective is to save the lives of our community.”
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Kaunda said the floods have impacted electricity and water supply across the metro.
“We appeal to all residents who are in flooded zones and feel that they are in danger is better to leave your house to a safer place rather than being washed away in floods.”
Kaunda has refuted accusations that the city’s stormwater drainage system is to blame.
“One of the factors to this is a landslide in those areas and therefore it has nothing to do with the drainage system but the houses are on a soil that is moving, some of them are built on steep hills, therefore, we were all surprised at the magnitude of the storm experienced.”
