Flood-hit Eastern Cape death toll hits 78
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa confirmed on Thursday night that the death toll had increased to 78 from 67.
Hlabisa confirmed the increase during an interview with the SABC News.
He says 21 out of the 78 bodies linked to heavy rain that caused floods in the Eastern Cape have so far been identified.
"We are in a crisis, a real disaster. Besides the floods, the more water subsides, the more people will be found. What is comforting is that we have sufficient people who are doing the search and rescue in terms of police, in terms of other organisations that are specialised in this work.
"It's devastating. It's a crisis, but it is a work that has to be done. Probably, we are still going to find more people, as we even made a clarion call in the centres we visited, that if there is someone you have not seen for the past two days, report that person as a missing person.
“Also, it's going to be a task to do the identification, as some people who are staying alone there will have no one to identify except a person who will be the neighbour, who can do the identification."
Torrential rains and freezing temperatures struck the Eastern Cape on Monday, causing major flooding and landslides that submerged houses.
Images showed homes completely under water and rescuers wading through the mud. Power and water supplies have been affected, and hundreds have been forced to relocate.
"We must persuade our people that it is better to save lives than to come and intervene when many people have died," Hlabisa added.
The minister said the search and rescue teams are still deployed.
“The infrastructure, the houses in the floodplains, were the ones that were washed away or affected. As a country, we need to confront the real challenge of people who are living by the rivers,” said Hlabisa.
He added that during his visit to four of the centres housing those affected, the residents agreed to be relocated from the floodplains.
"We will need the cooperation of our people because climate change is a reality. Next week, we might experience similar floods in the same area, and we might lose more people.
"So now this must be a countrywide decision to ensure that as a government we take a hard stance because these people were not allocated here by the municipalities, who should have considered the area where they are allocating people, and people decided to build on their own."
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