President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a National State of Disaster following widespread flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, saying the country needs to increase its investment in climate adaptation measures to better safeguard communities against the effects of climate change.

Over the last week, communities along parts of the country’s eastern coast have been devastated by catastrophic flooding. On April 11 and 12, parts of KwaZulu-Natal received between 200 mm and 400 mm of rainfall in 24 hours.

To date, a total of 443 people are known to have lost their lives in KwaZulu-Natal.

About 48 people are missing or unaccounted for.

The rains of the last week have caused extensive damage to houses, businesses, roads, bridges and water, electricity, rail and telecommunications infrastructure.

Areas located close to rivers and waterways – particularly informal settlements – were severely affected and many dwellings were swept away.

Nearly 4 000 homes have been completely destroyed and over 8 300 homes have been partially damaged. It is estimated that more than 40 000 people have been displaced by these floods.

It is estimated that over 270 000 learners have been affected and over 600 schools have been damaged.

He said the floods were a tragic reminder of the increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions as a result of climate change.

He explained that the National State of Disaster would ensure an effective response across all spheres of government to the extreme weather events that had occurred in several parts of the country.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the need for government to pursue emission reduction targets for South Africa through a just transition.

EFFECTIVE RESPONSE

Ramaphosa said government would respond to the disaster in three phases.

Government will focus on immediate humanitarian relief, ensuring that all affected persons are safe and that their basic needs are met.

The second focus will be on stabilisation and recovery, rehousing people who have lost homes and restoring provision of services, and the third focus will be on reconstruction and rebuilding.

He added that this would not only involve the construction and repair of major infrastructure, but it would also involve the construction of houses in suitably-located areas and measures to protect the residents of these areas from such adverse weather events in the future.

An immediate task is to house those people who have been displaced by the floods, with preparations underway to provide temporary residential units and it is expected that construction of these should begin by the end of this week.

Financial assistance through a voucher system is being made available to assist households to rebuild partially damaged houses.

The South African Police Service and the South African National Defence Force have been leading search and rescue efforts, with a total of 247 rescue operations to date.