Nearly six weeks after the floods that devastated the area of Kariega (Uitenhage) on 1 June 2024, the government has still not provided any financial assistance to flood victims.

Although the flood waters have subsided, life has become a daily struggle for many residents affected. Visits to the disaster area by high-ranking politicians such as President Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier Oscar Mabuyane have yielded little more than promises.

A press conference today by Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Gary van Niekerk also left frustrated residents with more questions than answers.

Amongst those worst affected are the residents of the Lapland Informal Settlement, who were evicted this past weekend from the temporary accommodation provided following the floods.

In many instances, these victims have lost all their possessions and only have some donated clothes and bedding. These poor residents now have to reconstruct their informal homes, but they have no building materials.

The government’s promises of temporary housing structures have been empty promises.

More than 1000 formal households have also suffered flood damages. By far, the majority of these residents did not have private insurance. Many of these homeowners have suffered such extended damages to their homes that they can now not reside there.

Although most of these households have submitted claims for damages to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM), the municipal officials have no idea how to facilitate these claims and have not started to process them.

Residents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the municipality, which is unable or unwilling to answer them.

The beleaguered NMBM has been unresponsive in managing the crisis and relied heavily on the private sector for donations to assist flood victims, as its own supply chain department finds itself in a state of paralysis and cannot procure even the most basic goods and services for disaster management to distribute.

This paralysis is also affecting the municipality’s ability to reinstate public infrastructure damaged by the floods. As such, there has been little to no progress in the mop-up and reinstatement works over the last six weeks.

The DA has written to Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and requested that he:

1. Apply more pressure on the national government to finalise the disaster relief funding for the area;
2. Find a way (through the Human Settlements Department) to provide temporary structures to the flood victims in Lapland;
3. Request a progress report from the municipality on progress with the reinstatement works of public infrastructure
4. Ensure that regular information is made available to flood victims on the nature and extent of financial assistance they will receive. This will assist in managing the frustrations and expectations of residents from both the informal and the formal areas.

Download letter here

The DA is in your corner, fighting for you. Together we can rescue Kariega (Uitenhage) again!

 

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