Relief on way for Nelson Mandela Bay flood victims

Relief is finally on the way for Nelson Mandela Bay’s flood victims — with the first tranche of a multimillion-rand disaster aid package expected to be deposited into the municipality’s bank account in the first week of October.

The metro had applied for a total of R218m in disaster relief after devastating floods in June wreaked havoc across the city, affecting areas ranging from KwaNobuhle and Kariega to Walmer Township.

Co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams told a packed Tamboville multipurpose centre during a community outreach programme in Kariega on Tuesday that the funds would be paid by October, if not sooner.

Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Gary van Niekerk told The Herald later that the city was expecting the first tranche of R60m of the R218m funding package to be paid over in October.

The funds are expected to be used to erect temporary housing for residents displaced by the floods and to replace damaged infrastructure, among other priorities.

Nearly 200 residents from Kariega’s Lapland informal settlement were left homeless after the floods destroyed their shacks, which had been built in low-lying areas.

The raging waters also caused infrastructure damage, resulting in the collapse of a bridge opposite the Laetitia Bam clinic in KwaNobuhle.

Since then, residents have had to use alternative routes to get in and out of the township.

Setbacks and delays in relocating the displaced Lapland families have led to protests.

The families were promised that they would be relocated to Van Rooyen Valley in Kariega in July.

Community member Ellen Mantjies said the municipality had failed them. 

“We need to camp at the homes of friends and family and it’s an up-and-down all the time,” she said. 

“Here they talk about funding but they talked about it two months ago already and now we hear the same thing over and over again. 

“We lost everything and that’s something they don’t understand. 

“They live lekker in their houses but what about us?”

Katlego Hanabe echoed Mantjies’ sentiments. 

Williams said since the disaster was declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the province and the metro were expecting the gazetting of the funding which would be allocated to the city, particularly for Kariega, the hardest-hit area.

“The gazette will enable us to attend to the challenges that we faced in the disaster we experienced.

“However, currently, temporary units for those residents that were removed from their homes due to the disaster, those TRUs [temporary residential units] are en route to Nelson Mandela Bay.

“We are aiming to deliver 20 complete structures every week so that people can be relocated to that area.

“The funding allocation has been confirmed to me by the National Disaster Centre that the first week of October, the allocation will actually be coming through.

“I’m even expecting it by the end of next week because of the pressure I’m putting so that we can get those funds and be able to resolve the disaster challenges, as can be heard from the communities raising sharply those issues that are not yet resolved,” Williams said.

The metro’s human settlements acting executive director, Owethu Pantshwa, said the municipality had received approval from the department of environmental affairs to clear land at Van Rooyen Valley and commence with the relocation plans.

“We’ve completed clearing the site and the contractor will be on site tomorrow and the plan is to build 20 structures per week and we can relocate the families to Van Rooyen Valley,” Pantshwa said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, residents affected by the floods were given an opportunity to list some of the challenges they were facing.

Complaints ranged from prolonged turnaround times for fixing electricity issues to blocked drains and sewage problems.

Williams warned municipal officials that if they wanted to keep their jobs, they had to do the work they were employed to do.

He promised to return on October 4 to check on the progress of the relief efforts.

HeraldLIVE