President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the people of Kariega in the Eastern Cape that government will step in to help them following devastating floods which have hit the region.
At least nine people have lost their lives in the Eastern Cape due to the floods. Thousands have been displaced, with infrastructure and housing damage estimated to have reached billions of rands.
Speaking in Kariega on Friday, President Ramaphosa told the community that they are not alone during this difficult time.
‘The storm has caused great damage in this place. Government must come and help and it will help. Government will come to help all of you. Within 30 days, we will have provided temporary housing for those who have lost their houses. In the meantime, we will have accommodation for those who have been displaced.
‘This is very painful and I am very sorry that we have this situation. But I want to [assure] that government will walk this road with you,’ he said.
Those who have lost loved ones will also receive help from
government.
‘The local government is here. The provincial government is here and all its departments as well as the national departments. The extent of the damage is huge.
‘It’s a disaster and we are going to deal with it as a disaster. The sad part is that there are people who have died. We, as government, are going to help those families where people have died and our social welfare department is going to support those families as much as we can and make sure that burials do happen.
‘There are people who are injured… who have had to go to hospital and we are going to make sure that they get good healthcare once they are in hospital.
‘Those people who have become displaced… we are going to make sure that they are put in a same place and moved from that safe place and put in temporary accommodation, which we are in the process of preparing and building,’ he said.
President Ramaphosa thanked churches and the Gift of the Givers who have stepped in to also lend a hand to those in need.
‘We are grateful tha
t we have our churches…that have come through and helped the people. We say thank you very much.
‘We also want to say thank to other people, like the Gift of the Givers… They are very good and they move very quickly when they are disasters. We thank you them for that… We are thankful to have an organisation like the Gift of the Givers,’ he said.
Source: South African Government News Agency