The DA will call on KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) CoGTA portfolio committee Chairperson, Zinhle Cele, requesting an urgent oversight inspection of the province’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC) to establish the facility’s state of preparedness and functionality.
The appeal comes as KZN is currently being battered by frequent flooding with global climate change having a devastating effect on our province.
The DA is deeply concerned by the high number of lives lost recently as a result of heavy rains and flooding. We extend our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones.
The call to the CoGTA Chairperson also comes as the DMC remains unprepared for disaster and is critically understaffed and underfunded while co-ordination with district disaster centres appears haphazard. This despite two devastating floods in KZN in 2022.
It is clear that KZN’s ANC-run government has failed to learn any lessons during the past two years and it is unacceptable that there has been no progress at the DMC. This is an almost criminal neglect of KZN’s citizens and it is clear that government does not believe they have the right to be properly protected.
A recent oversight of the Western Cape DMC – after that province experienced serious floods – has revealed that the two facilities are worlds apart. The DA will also call on Chairperson Cele to set up an oversight visit to the Western Cape DMC in order to learn best practice.
With more heavy rains expected in KZN during the days ahead, the DA urges residents in affected areas to keep up to date with warnings and instructions, to leave low lying areas if so advised, and to not attempt to cross flooded bridges during heavy rains.
Government has a duty to protect KZN’s people from the impact of climate change. This requires a proactive and caring government and the DA urges citizens to vote for a change in government when they go to the polls in 2024. Their very lives depend on it.