President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) disaster caused by the floods is an indication that climate change cannot be ignored and promised that national government preparations are under way to declare the province a disaster area.

He was visiting the Ntuzuma area, where many families have had to seek shelter at a local school, when he said disaster management capabilities needed to be at a higher level.

The heavy rains have also wreaked havoc at a local cemetery where bones of some of those buried at a cemetery in Ntuzuma D section were left exposed.

At least 10 districts, including Ugu District and Umzinyathi, have been affected in the province, with a lot of road infrastructure affected.

Search and rescue personnel were still searching for some of the missing people.
 
He was accompanied by a few KZN MECs including Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Ravi Pillay and Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane.

President Ramaphosa promised that more funds will be released as he has been in talks with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

The funds will assist with immediate assistance like providing food, shelter and to assist the bereaved families to bury their loved ones.

“We are going to do everything we can to deal with this disaster including the economic aspect of it, “ said Ramaphosa.

He said other provinces had pledged support to the KZN province, adding this showed that there was solidarity and that South Africans were working as a team.

He urged the KZN people and the local government structures to work together and to treat it with the level of seriousness that it required.

Ramaphosa promised that all those who have been affected would be assisted and assured the Ntuzuma community that ward councillors were working with local authorities to disperse help.

The exact death toll is still being tallied.