The Eastern Cape’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department is meeting with stakeholders to assess the damage in flood-affected areas in the province.
Flash flooding on Saturday lasted around four hours and left hundreds displaced, the majority of them from poorer households.
Officials are struggling to relocate them as some residents returned in a desperate attempt to salvage food and personal items.
Department spokesperson Sonwabo Mbananga said, together with the Gift of the Givers, they had been assisting with temporary housing and funeral arrangements for the 10 people who lost their lives.
“The metro here in Buffalo City is also availing its centres where the displaced are being housed temporarily while solutions for relocation are being made as well as, of course, the burial of those who are deceased, particularly from indigent families,” Mbananga said.
REINFORCEMENTS
The Gift of the Givers earlier estimated some 300 people had been displaced by the flooding.
Torrential rains lashed parts of the province this weekend leaving a trail of destruction in Mdansane and Duncan Village.
Gift of the Givers has had to send additional trucks, filled with relief items, from their Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal offices
Spokesperson Ali Sablay said basic food items were in high demand, explaining “we are busy with huge food operations at the moment.”
His colleague, Corene Conradie, was at the scene near East London. Those affected were poor households living in shack dwellings.
Conradie said they had completely lost what little they had.
“People need mattresses, blankets, hygiene packs. School is opening in a week’s time. These parents are already bought school uniforms, clothing, books, stationery – it’s all washed away.”
-EWN
In other news – Andile and Sithelo Shozi’s second child drama: Close friend reveals what really happened
Andile Mpisane apparently dumped his long-time girlfriend and baby-mama Sithelo Shozi after he questioned the paternity of their second child.
The publication has learnt that Mpisane has since taken back ownership of the luxurious BMW he bought Shozi just two months ago. Mpisane, who is the youngest club chairperson in the Premier Soccer League, took many by surprise when he wed Tamia Louw last month – with the newlyweds said to be expecting their first child together. Learn More
