LOCAL

Mop-up operations have been intensified in KwaZulu-Natal after devastating floods struck the province twice in just over a month.

Premier Sihle Zikalala says the heavy rains which hit the province and caused flooding at the weekend have left hundreds of residents homeless.

He says the La Mercy bridge in the north of Durban has effectively been cut off after the collapse of parts of the road linking the area to the N2.

Zikalala was briefing the media at uMldoti in Durban together with a number of MECs on Monday after assessing the extent of the damage.

He says, “We have seen the damage is huge. The first is infrastructure on roads. The M4 which was already closed due to the fact the previous floods affected the roads between Lamesi and Sitha, it is impossible for people to use that road.”

Property

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has cautioned communities that have lost properties to floods in various parts of the country, especially KwaZulu-Natal, not to rebuild their homes and businesses in those areas.

She was briefing a special Parliamentary Committee established to oversee government’s response to relief and recovery efforts in flood-ravaged areas such as KwaZulu-Natal as well as parts of the Eastern Cape and the North West.

Dlamini-Zuma says, “We are working with the Department of Public Works. We are looking at the areas that are suitable for residential areas so that these pieces of land are the ones that are used to build for them so that the people don’t go back to those places. If we had the means right now, we could be moving everyone, from the place where the mud can actually slide and their houses would be destroyed.”

VIDEO: Hundreds evacuated as floods wreak havoc and destruction once again:

Source: SABC