Hlabisa concedes that EC needs urgent intervention amid deadly floods


2 minutes

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has conceded that urgent intervention is needed in the Eastern Cape.

Four provinces, including the Eastern Cape, have been included in a national state of disaster classification to allow government departments at all levels to intervene.

Heavy rain led to severe floods in the Eastern Cape claiming the lives of 79 people in the province.

More than 1 000 others have been displaced. President Cyril Ramaphosa is visiting the province today along with Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Hlabisa.

Hlabisa explains what government is doing in the aftermath of the floods …

” Yesterday we made a classification of a national disaster and there’s a difference between classification and declaration. Classification is the first step, we made it a national disaster under classification which involves four provinces: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Western Cape. The classification merely works the same as declaration. The problem with the declaration it takes long to activate departments. So, now the classification allows all three spheres of government to intervene immediately to ensure that sufficient intervention is done.”