Durban — The IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature says that it has little faith in support being provided for flood victims.
The party said that it has little faith that those affected by the recent storm which wreaked havoc in eThekwini will get assistance speedily.
IFP KZN spokesperson on human settlements Thokozile Gumede said: “The so-called ‘caring’ ANC government has a dismal track record when it comes to flood victims. It has been over a year since the ANC made empty promises that victims of the April 2022 floods would be provided with houses. This, despite the KZN Department of Human Settlements’ R4.3 billion budget for the 2023/24 Financial Year and their promise that 13 parcels of land had been identified to build houses for flood victims.”
“Disaster backlogs continue to accumulate, yet during 2017-2019 and 2019-2020 KZN Department of Human Settlements had a budget allocation of R397 million that was underspent.”
Gumede said that unsurprisingly, the response from Human Settlements MEC Sipho Nkosi to an IFP parliamentary question regarding the promised houses failed to provide a clear time frame. He instead stated that prior to construction, various detailed planning milestones are required, such as the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act approval and related environmental authorisations.
Apparently, the 13 land parcels are currently at the various detailed stages of the planning process, and once planning has been completed, the project will proceed to construction, Gumede said.
“The recent storm has now added yet another burden to the government’s load, as it has to provide additional assistance to those affected. In addition, winter is upon us,” Gumede said.
“This lack of action on the part of the government puts lives at risk, as many people are without houses, with some staying in shacks, and others left homeless.”
Gumede said that the IFP will continue to monitor this situation and call on the government to speed up the process of providing homes to those affected by the devastating floods.
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