‘We are on our own’ - EFF slams govt response to KZN flooding
The EFF has lashed at what it believes to be a delayed announcement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on the R1 billion which will be made available in response to the deadly floods in KZN.
The minister announced the relief fund almost a week after heavy rains led to devastating floods in the province and the loss of some 400 lives.
The current death toll stands at 398.
"A sober state, at its very least, is expected to immediatley intervene at the first announcement of severe weather conditions, given that responsive interventions save lives and provides practical suport to communities and families," says EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys.
"Instead, the hyenas led by President Cyril Ramaphosa showed up days later for a straw mat photoshoot while scouting its next looting expedition.
"It is also worth noting that the SANDF who was deployed, harassed households and confiscated sanitary pads following the July 2021 civil unrest are only due to assist in the flooded province in the upcoming week."
Mathys says the SANDF's advanced evacuation training could have prevented the death and destruction in the province.
"South Africa must take note of the continuous and deliberate delays by government for intervention that mitigates loss of life," says Mathys.
"It is community members and groups with no training who are seen putting their lives on the line to save others because the State fails in its constitutional mandate to save lives.
"South Africans our status remains as is - we are on our own. As such, let us continue in our efforts to help each other.
"Any expectation that the R1-billion in relief funds will actualise as relief is illogical, with the recent lived experience of the R500-billion Covid-19 relief fund that did not build a single new hospital being a point of reference.
"Instead government dug 1-million graves in eager anticipation of our deaths.
"If this current government did not consider a pandemic worthy of it fulfilling its constituional mandate, a natural disaster in one province certainly is of no significance to Cyril Ramaphosa."
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