KZN Floods: SASSA Puts Up More Money to Help KZN Residents, Offers R1 980 to People Affected by Floods

• The South African Social Security Agency has decided to increase the relief benefit it is offering KwaZulu-Natal residents
• SASSA initial said residents who have been affected by the floods would be receiving R700 but that has now increased to over R1500
• The KwaZulu-Natal should be expecting more rainfall as the South African Weather Service says there is an 80% of showers

DURBAN - The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) says it will be upping the relief benefit offered to the victims of the floods in KwaZulu-Natal from the initial R700 to R1 980.

The natural disaster has claimed the lives of close to 400 people with more deaths anticipated as the cleaning operations continue in the province. In addition to the loss of life, many people have been displaced from their homes and public infrastructure has been heavily destroyed due to floods.

Read also

KZN floods: Department of Human Settlements plans to distribute 4000 temporary houses to displaced residents

Death toll in KZN increases

The KwaZulu-Natal department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) issued an update on the death toll on Saturday, 16 April and the number of people who have lost their lives is now 398. The department added that around 20 people have been officially declared missing according to TimesLIVE.

More rainfall expected in KZN

According to SABC News, the rainfall in KZN has not ended and more showers have been forecasted by the South African Weather Service. The organisation says KZN can expect 80% of showers and thunderstorms on Easter Saturday.

Forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng says areas that will most likely see more flooding are Umgungundlovu and eThekwini municipalities, however, the flooding warning is not exclusive to the KZN province.

Read also

KZN floods: Residents asked to leave low level areas, more flood warnings issued

Mofokeng says other provinces such as Gauteng could also experience flooding on Sunday, 17 April.

"As we move to tomorrow, we are expecting normal flooding. Even here in Gauteng, there is still a chance for flooding,” says Mofokeng.

KZN floods: Cancelled bookings in Durban raise concerns for tourism sector over Easter weekend

Briefly News previously reported that an estimated R30 million is expected to be lost in Durban after 16% of bookings made over the Easter Weekend were cancelled due to the heavy rains and flooding in the area. Durban is a holiday destination and the tourism sector in the province is expected to take a huge knock.

Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu said the province will suffer an estimated R74 million gross domestic product loss and 155 job losses.

Holidaymakers were expected to spend about R880 million over the Easter Weekend. The eThekwini Municipality said the number of visitors is expected to decrease as several parts of the city are still reeling from the recent floods. The heavy rains have “wreaked havoc” in the province, according to SABC News.

Source: Briefly News