The estimated cost of infrastructural damage from the recent Eastern Cape floods stands at R524m, the provincial government has revealed.
Premier Phumulo Masualle’s office announced the figures on Thursday.
Hardest hit by last week’s torrential rains were areas such as Port St John’s, King Sabatha Dalindyebo, Nyandeni, Ingquza Hill, Elundini, Senqu and Mhlontlo municipalities.
It was reported this week that municipalities falling under the OR Tambo district, have suffered damages amounting to over R200m.
This saw Masualle forming a joint operations centre to coordinate disaster relief, after several roads and bridges were washed away, and more than 1, 400 families evacuated.
A total of 11 people died during the heavy downpour in the province. Hardest hit was Port St Johns where 1, 091 families had to be evacuated.
Masualle gave the team a deadline until last Monday to compile a report.
Office of the premier’s spokesman Sonwabo Mbananga said the report had been submitted on Thursday afternoon, and “an estimated cost of the recovery effort is R524m”.
He said the priority of the provincial government was to fix damaged roads and bridges which have made about 70 polling stations across the province, inaccessible.
Mbananga said a team of South African National Defence Force officers had descended on the province on Wednesday, to help revamp 11 bridges, five walkways and several roads which lead to voting stations.
“Work has started in earnest to help fix things in all the affected areas,” said Mbananga.
Masualle conducted a walkabout of Port St Johns last Wednesday where hundreds of residents were displaced by the torrential downpours.
OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo councils convened special council meetings to assess the extent of the damage.The Dispatch reported this week that OR Tambo council wanted the area declared a disaster after more than 1,000 people were displaced by the killer floods which left a number of people dead in the Eastern Cape last week.Mbananga said: “The army will help a great deal in making sure that some of the villages, which have been cut off from connecting to other areas, due to the collapsed bridges, get connected again. This is critical because some of these villages have voting stations.”Mbananga said the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) had also submitted a detailed report to the premier, which listed damaged bridges and roads in Port St Johns, Nyandeni and Ingquza Hill municipalities.He said most of the families who had to leave their homes for safety, had since returned, but four families in Ingquza Hill were still being accommodated by neighbours because their homes had collapsed.“Six more people remain homeless in Cedarville in Matatiele, and four more from Mafube Qhashanek also remain homeless,” added Mbananga...