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The floodwaters have receded significantly in Ladysmith, leaving the community to clean up the aftermath.
Joining the municipality in the clean-up, groups of people, businesses and foundations are all jumping. The Al-Imdaad Foundation is one of these teams currently mopping up in the CBD.
According to the foundation, teams are out on the streets with the Al-Imdaad Foundation water tanker to help shop owners power-wash their entrances, mop up mud, and clear debris.
Sadly, early indications show extensive damage, affecting a wide range of businesses.
According to the uThukela District Municipality, District Mayor Inkosi Ntandoyesizwe Shabalala has expressed his concerns about the negative impact the floods have had on business operations, potentially crippling the town’s economy.
Additionally, during the assessment with high-ranking municipal officials and KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Abed Karrim of the Al-Imdaad Foundation highlighted concerns about criminal activities taking place at affected businesses in the town.
Sipho Hlomuka, MEC for KZN CoGTA, has also met with some of the affected business owners and community members. He assured them of the government’s commitment to addressing the cause of the flooding and finding a permanent solution that would protect the town from future flooding.
Despite the MEC’s commitment to addressing the issue, the Democratic Alliance (DA) notes that the Alfred Duma Municipality has invited a consultant to investigate the flooding. Which, according to the DA, should have been completely avoided.
“The DA will write to the Municipal Manager to ensure that the brief/mandate given to the consultant includes the establishment of the causes for the flooding and whether any councillors and/or officials should be held accountable for having wrongly approved new building plans, having failed to comply with the obligations to keep the riverbed clear of vegetation and excess silt or any other failure that contributed to the flooding,” says DA’s Alf Lees.
He adds that one of the Alfred Duma Municipality’s flood control responsibilities was to keep the riverbed through Ladysmith and towards Pieters free of vegetation and excessive silting.
“Despite significant pressure from the Flood Control Committee, which existed in the early years of the Qedusizi Dam, successive IFP and ANC governments in Ladysmith have failed to meet this obligation.”
The DA adds that further contributing factors include unmaintained and blocked stormwater drains. Additionally, the Alfred Duma Municipality approved considerable commercial development in areas still at risk of flooding.
“These questionable building approvals include the relatively recent approval for the construction of the SUPERSPA that was apparently built on a stormwater servitude – despite warnings from the DA. SUPERSPA has been seriously flooded in the recent floods,” Lees concludes.
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