Government Was Not Really Prepared to Deal With KZN Floods, President Cyril Ramaphosa Admits Services Failed
- During a Durban Chamber of Commerce meeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Government was not prepared to deal with the recent floods
- Ramaphosa wants Government structures to work together to plan how to deal with climate change in the case of future disasters
- Every province will be required to develop and submit a disaster management plan to the national disaster management council
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DURBAN - President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted that the government was not fully prepared to deal with the recent floods that left thousands displaced and killed hundreds in KwaZulu-Natal. The president was addressing the Durban Chamber of Commerce on Sunday, 15 May and said Government will have to prioritise the effects of climate change.
The event was also attended by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala, several ministers and business leaders. Ramaphosa said the disaster brought about many lessons that need to be learnt.
Source: Getty Images
Addressing the event, the president said Government structures need to work together to plan how to deal with climate change. News24 reported that Ramaphosa said human settlements will need to be climate-proof. He said a complete overhaul is needed to deal with challenges in the eastern seaboard and the western parts of the country, which have experienced droughts. Ramaphosa said that the readiness to deal with disasters must to be improved drastically.
He added that risk assessments for all provinces in terms of natural disasters must be ongoing. Every province is required to develop and submit a disaster management plan to the national disaster management council, Eyewitness News reported. Ramaphosa added the main priority is to help rebuild the lives and businesses that were affected by flooding in KZN.
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Residents want solutions
South Africans took to social media to express their thoughts following the meeting and want answers to the problems faced in KwaZulu-Natal:
@DonnyM23711427 said:
“Can someone tell the nation what should have happened to show that the state was ready for those floods. Everybody is saying the state was not ready, but no one is telling what the state of readiness is. We need to come with solutions after criticising.”
@bertje_sa wrote:
“Day to day basic services have collapsed... how would we be able to respond to disasters? We need capable and committed people to deliver the services we deserve.”
@GatvolZ commented:
“Same old story he said about the KZN violence and looting as well! Seems that Cyril Ramaphosa has a limited vocabulary and a very short memory!”
@libwineguy added:
“Tell us something we don’t know squirrel. You’ve not been ready for anything, stealing, looting, putting people in jail, floods. I tell you what how about we act surprised when you do get your s**t together.”
eThekwini Municipality partners with Gift of the Givers to distribute R3 million donated to KZN flood victims
In a related matter, Briefly News also reported the municipality of eThekwini says it is doing everything in its power to ensure that all the money given by various countries reaches victims of the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
The city has received donations from Belgium, China, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Madagascar, Indonesia and Montenegro, according to the municipality's spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela.
These countries have donated more than R3 million in total, with countries such as the United States of America and China donating R1.5 million and R1.2 million respectively, according to TimesLIVE. Other countries' donations varied from R5 000 to R800 000.
Source: Briefly News
