Cape Town rescue workers sent to KZN flood disaster shocked by scale of devastation
Cape Town’s emergency workers dispatched to flood-ravaged Durban hit the ground running yesterday when they were called to assist and dig through rubble in search of a missing man and child as the death toll exceeds the 400 mark.
The government’s response to the KwaZulu-Natal floods has come under heavy criticism – with some attributing it to a “leadership crisis”, outdated disaster management plans and poor infrastructure maintenance.
The floods in KwaZulu-Natal, the worst the country has experienced in 60 years, saw mudslides toppling homes, roads destroyed, power lines knocked out, water supplies shut down and operations at one of the country’s busiest ports halted.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said an initial R1 billion for emergency relief was available for immediate use after the province was declared a disaster area.
The City of Cape Town also issued a call for donations to help flood disaster victims in KZN. The City’s Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said they dispatched a highly trained group of rescuers, divers and medics.
He said the team had been split into three, two for water rescues and one for people who were trapped under collapsed structures.
A mudslide is suspected to have buried 20 bodies. “They will attempt to dig those out on Sunday.”
Team leader Frederik Munnik told Weekend Argus that after debriefing sessions with the authorities they were dispatched to affected areas.
“We have combined teams of divers, rescuers and K9 (dog) units. And as reports come in, we activate (teams),” he said.
Yesterday, in Reservoir Hills they searched for a man and a little girl with the help of sniffer dogs. He said the area was covered in debris with pieces of lumber, furniture and cars.
“To work through this by hand will take literally weeks so the K9 units help target (an area) for excavation.”
He said the suburb was on the foothills. “A large body of water came through here and destroyed their houses. What used to be a road is now a 3-4m deep valley with piles of debris ... a lot of carnage and destruction. A lot of people have been affected.”
Munnik said while he was confident in his team’s experience, they had never been part of a mission of such a scale.
“It is devastating. The team have experienced many things (but) what makes this different is the scale of the event, the amount of people and communities that are affected. Some communities are very supportive when teams arrive, they want closure on their missing family members.”
However, he said some residents were frustrated that teams were delayed and not getting to them fast enough.
The Cape rescue teams will remain out in the field and sleep in tents. Gift of the Givers has provided tools and equipment.
Cape Town residents can drop off supplies at the Roeland Street fire station, Lakeside fire station as well as the fire stations in Strand, Goodwood and Bellville.
Authorities said as many as 13 600 people had been left homeless while more than 40 000 people had been affected by the disaster.
The SANDF was also deployed to help with evacuation efforts.
However, the move has done little to stave off criticism from opposition parties, political analysts and engineers after Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said the floods were also a reflection of apartheid.
SA Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) chief executive Webster Mfebe said apartheid spatial planning, lack of infrastructure maintenance and the issue of tender corruption were factors in the KZN floods.
“It is imperative to underscore the Durban floods were a natural disaster beyond human comprehension and prediction as the South African Weather Service itself underestimated the severity and intensity of the floods, as they had issued a level 5 instead of a level 10 impact warning.
“The authorities were literally caught unaware of the unfolding disaster,” Mfebe said.
Political analyst Makhosini Mgitywa said the government’s response showed a leadership crisis. “Something needs to be done and it is clear.
“The approach of the government is that we will attend to it when there is a crisis.”
Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said it was concerning that a government with a well-equipped defence force “can still be caught pants down”.
“After nearly 30 years in power, it is sad that the government doesn’t have an effective plan to respond to natural disasters.
“During Covid-19 we saw soldiers all over the country, even in the smallest town. Gungubele must stop blaming apartheid for each and everything that is happening in the country.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said the ANC did not have an effective plan. “If they are unable to solve man-made disasters as experienced during the eight days in July, how would they solve natural ones?”
He said Gungubele’s statement was an insult to the public because the government had failed to maintain the country’s infrastructure they inherited from the apartheid government, “subjecting our people to live in deplorable conditions, failing to provide necessary basic services, living in flood-prone areas while comrades were looting the country, and building inferior quality RDP houses which would not pass any quality standards.”
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Tambo said the impact of the tragedy could have been less severe if the government had foresight.
“We have seen floods in the province before, which means disaster management measures should be in place, evacuations should be done on time, and adequate drainage should be in place.”
Tambo blamed “an ill-prepared government and the consequences of a lack of service delivery and infrastructure development”.
UDM president Bantu Holomisa said the government was non-existent. “We have not invested to deal with disasters of this magnitude. The air force squadron in KZN could have been easily deployed with helicopters to assist.”
Black First Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama said: “The government of South Africa has enough resources at its disposal including the military, but it lacks vision and urgency. The minister has no moral authority to blame apartheid.”
KZN DA chairperson Dean Macpherson said: “It’s clear that many questions are starting to be asked about the preparedness of eThekwini and other municipalities for something like this.”
Asked to comment on the criticism levelled against the government, including sentiments that it was a sign of poor leadership, Presidency spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli referred enquiries to the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department and the KZN provincial government, saying that they were responsible for disaster management.
National Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson Lungi Mtshali accused opposition parties of using the KZN disaster to score political points. “Nobody had an opportunity to sit down and do a thorough assessment of these floods.
“So I don’t think there is even an engineer that can say that this is caused by the state of the infrastructure.
“But what we do know is that the province experienced rainfall that we haven’t experienced in our country in a very long time.
“I don’t think it’s the right time to really be pointing fingers when we are trying to restore people’s livelihoods,” he said.
KZN department spokesperson Sizwe Mzila and ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe did not respond.
On Friday, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said that preliminary reports estimated the extent of the damage to provincial roads at R5.7 billion. “We will require Sanral technical expertise.”
Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said her department would prioritise KZN with R1bn to repair partially damaged houses and provide about 4 000 temporary shelters.
Scientists believe the south-eastern coast of Africa is becoming more vulnerable to violent storms and floods as human emissions of heat-trapping gases cause the Indian Ocean to warm. They expect the trend to worsen dramatically in coming decades.
Local climate campaigners are calling for greater investment to help residents better prepare for weather shocks.