SAFTU IS CORNCERNED BY THE IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS

Source: Joseph Bracken , GroundUp

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the people who tragically lost their lives in the natural disasters in Tongaat, Ballito in eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, the Stoney Drift informal settlement in Buffalo City and Gqeberha in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in Eastern Cape.

Our thoughts are with those affected by these devastating incidents, which not only resulted in loss of life but destroyed and damaged people’s houses. The mini-Tornado has caused damage to people’s houses and left more than 2000 households displaced in Buffalo City, 6000 residents relocated in Gqeberha and 1200 displaced in eThekwini Municipality.

We commend the workers in Emergency Services for their efforts in responding to these natural disasters and acknowledge the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for deploying resources to access affected areas to rescue and ensure the safety of residents.
During this chaotic time, SAFTU is deeply concerned about the safety of the people of eThekwini, Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality. The impact of the floods is exacerbated by poor infrastructure and poorly maintained roads.

We urge that measures be put in place to build a new and safe infrastructure to prevent such tragedies. This should involve consistent infrastructure maintenance, including roads, bridges and drainage systems. Natural disaster funds should not be squandered by corrupt tenderpreneurs who see these as enrichment opportunities, not desperate times of rebuilding our communities. In this context, commissions are prioritised over the people’s lives.

The Ministry of Human Settlements has in its National Housing Needs Register indicated that there is a need to build 604 594 for the people of the Eastern Cape contradicting what the Minister of Human Settlement said in not so many words that government does not have the responsibility to build people houses. This shows that government is not willing to build housing for the people. It implies that the impact of natural disasters on the people of Eastern Cape. This is like the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, which not only has a greater housing backlog, but has also failed to utilise the natural disaster funds to mitigate and relieve the people of eThekwini Municipality who were affected by floods and torrential rains and storms consistently since 2017. In this disaster, the KZN government is more likely to fail in relieving people whose houses and infrastructure have been damaged.

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