KZN Floods: DA vindicated as SAHRC pledges to assist in the fight against ANC apathy

29 November 2022

A meeting between the DA in KwaZulu-Natal and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the province has vindicated the party’s concerns around the slow pace of aid to flood victims by government.

The engagement, which took place yesterday, comes after the DA handed over a Memorandum of Demands earlier this month relating to shocking conditions experienced by flood victims in eThekwini mass care centres.

The meeting saw the Commission express its frustration and disappointment at the appallingly slow response by ANC-run government departments and municipalities across the province. This despite both KZN’s Human Settlements Department and the eThekwini municipality receiving additional emergency funding in order to assist flood victims.

KZN’s flood victims have been pushed from pillar to post for seven long months and counting. This while government continues to over-promise and under-deliver.

One example is the recent assurance that thousands living in mass care centres will no longer be there by Christmas, with the halls being cleared by 15 December. This is highly unlikely given the sheer numbers involved.

This raises another important matter – the conflicting numbers being reported. The DA estimates that there are 15 000 people living in squalid conditions in centres. This is based on our own extensive on-the-ground work. Meanwhile, government has stated that there are 3 448 people at the 58 mass care facilities that remain.

The SAHRC has pledged to work with the DA from here on. It has also raised the possibility of litigation against government on the basis of slow delivery.

This comes not a moment too soon for KZN’s flood victims who are fast being forgotten by an uncaring government and the DA urges the Commission to follow through on this as a matter of urgency.

The DA will continue to engage with the SAHRC in the days ahead. We will not allow this ANC administration to abandon its responsibility.

The people of KZN will have the opportunity to vote for a government that has their best interests at heart in 2024. That party is the DA.

Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature, 29 October 2022