By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the recent floods that devastated parts of KwaZulu-Natal were proof that as a country we were not ready to deal with disasters.
Ramaphosa expressed the view during his address at the Presidential meeting with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Durban on Sunday.
The Ministers of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Water and Sanitation; Safety and Security; Public Enterprises; Environmental Affairs; Public Works and Infrastructure; Transport and the Deputy Ministers of Police and Justice were part of the meeting to engage the business leaders on issues of concern to them.
More than 400 people lost their lives while thousands were displaced when the province was hit by floods that caused massive landslides and damage to property.
He has pledged government support to help the business sector which has been hard hit by the recent disaster.
Ramaphosa said municipalities, provinces and departments would now be expected to develop, update, review and submit their disaster management and contingency plans to the National Disaster Management Council.
They were also addressing mechanisms to improve access to provincial and municipal disaster relief funding.
“Another issue also under discussion is the scope for provinces and municipalities to delegate certain disaster relief functions to well-capacitated institutions if they lack the capacity.”
All organs of state have to develop practical risk-informed disaster management and contingency plans that can be implemented at short notice, He added.
Ramaphosa said he was encouraged by the eThekwini Metro’s efforts around early warning systems and raising awareness in communities about the impacts of climate change and the extreme weather associated with it.
“We have agreed in today’s meeting that our foremost priority now must be on helping the people of KwaZulu-Natal to rebuild their lives, and to assist business in the province to get its economic recovery programme back on track.
“We welcome the efforts in this regard that are being driven by the KZN Growth Coalition, of which the Durban Chamber of Commerce forms part.”
He said engagement with communities, especially around constructing dwellings in high-risk and flood-prone areas, was critical in preventing loss of life in future.