EFF calls for national state of disaster as Eastern Cape flooding claims 78 lives

News24

18 hours ago

The EFF has urged Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to declare a national state of disaster in the Eastern Cape after flooding claimed 78 lives.
EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi said the consequences of the flooding exceeded the provincial authorities' capacity to manage, contain, or resolve the situation.
Mkhaliphi said the EFF was painfully aware of mistakes in the past, particularly the failure to act swiftly and transparently after the 2022 and 2023 floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
The EFF has called on Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to declare a national state of disaster in the Eastern Cape.
The party has also proposed that a national disaster response command council be set up to deal with the tragedies that unfolded in the province as a result of heavy rain and flooding this week.
The death toll stands at 78.
EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi has written a letter to Hlabisa to urgently request the declaration of a national state of disaster.
In the letter, Mkhaliphi said the flooding was a catastrophic event and that the consequences of it exceeded provincial authorities' capacity to manage, contain, or resolve the situation.
READ | 'I've never seen anything like this': Eastern Cape survivor recounts flood nightmare
'It is our firm view that the conditions outlined in Section 27(1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002) have now clearly been met. The scale of destruction, the level of human loss, and the visible institutional incapacity of the provincial government demand that a national state of disaster be declared without delay.
'The premier of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, has himself publicly conceded that the province lacks the necessary resources, technical capability and institutional capacity to deal with the scale of this disaster,' Mkhaliphi said.
She added that efforts by provincial emergency services officials, NGOs, and local communities were not enough.
Entire roads have been washed away, access to affected rural areas is severely limited, and the recovery of bodies and delivery of aid has been delayed in many areas. These delays cost lives.
'The Disaster Management Act allows for a national declaration where 'existing legislation and contingency arrangements do not adequately provide for the national executive to deal effectively with the disaster'. This is precisely the situation in the Eastern Cape today.
'If the national executive fails to intervene decisively and timeously, we risk even more loss of life, exposure to disease, the collapse of already fragile municipal systems, and deepening trauma to already marginalised communities,' Mkhaliphi added.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to visit the province on Friday.
Mkhaliphi said the EFF was painfully aware of the mistakes of the past, particularly the government's failure to act swiftly and transparently in the aftermath of the 2022 and 2023 floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
'Billions were pledged, but communities are still waiting for houses, clinics, schools, and roads to be rebuilt. Corruption flourished under the cloak of emergency procurement. It is for this reason that we not only call for the declaration of a national state of disaster but also for the establishment of real-time auditing and accountability measures.
'The Office of the Auditor-General, the Public Protector, and civil society stakeholders must be integrated into the national disaster response mechanism from the onset,' she said.