Calls to declare KZN a disaster area reiterated

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Calls to declare KwaZulu-Natal a disaster area have been made again, two years since a double flood event in the province . Last week, a tornado hit Durban’s northern coastal towns, killing at least 11 people.

Scientists say vulnerable communities in floodplains in and around coastal cities like Durban, will continue to bear the brunt of climate change, if they are not relocated.

KwaZulu-Natal residents have come face to face with the elements in recent years. Erratic weather activities like brutal storms and more recently, a tornado, are putting lives and livelihoods at risk.

Mudslides in 2022

In April and May in 2022, KwaZulu-Natal was hit by two climatic weather events. Mudslides and torrential downpours damaged homes, businesses, roads and critical infrastructure.

More than 400 people died in April 2022 floods.

Some buried underneath their homes in their sleep, whilst the rivers washed the others away. At the time President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a provincial state of disaster.

Barely a month later, a second wave of flooding. Roads, bridges, telecommunication networks, water and sewage infrastructure took a beating a second time around. Two years on, survivors have rebuilt their informal houses in the same, vulnerable floodplains.
Nonsindiso Yala has lived in Quarry Heights, Durban since 2016.

The harsh reality is that the nearby job opportunities keep her and her family in the same space despite its dangers.

“ I was affected by the last floods, our houses were flooded, I decided to come back here because I want to be closer to my workplace. I am able to survive here, the clinic and the mall are a walking distance.”

Another resident says, “Each time there are floods, we know that our houses will be flooded. Then we will have to cleanup and replace items that have been damaged. We want the municipality to get a piece of that land that is safe and build houses for us, we want to live in a safe place. We are still traumatised by 2022 floods that claimed lives of people whose bodies have not been found.”

Mike Somthala has lived in the area for 19 years. Like many people here, Somthala knows the dangers of the location but is forced to simply rebuild, often at his own expense, when the heavy rains hit.

“We decided to stay here because it is closer to the city, we are able to walk to Pinetown to look for jobs. We cannot afford to pay for transport. When there are floods, we run to the hardware which is upper. Our belongings are washed away, we just grab documents and run to seek shelter. I am calling on government to get us a safe place to stay or a piece of land where we can build our own houses.”

2023 floods 

On Christmas Eve, last year, Ladysmith suffered two devastating floods within two weeks. Twenty-five people died. Businesses and infrastructure were destroyed.

The town’s location, in the Uthukela catchment area at the foothills of the Drakensberg, experts say, are directly linked to its flooding problem.

Professor in town and regional planning at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu, says asking people not to rebuild in low lying areas is useless without a solution and support.

“People are not going to listen to you if you are bringing a problem without a solution. You need to say there’s a problem and this is the solution. If you go to people and say do not build in this area because this is a floodplain, then the question they will ask is where they will build and if you don’t tell them where to build, then you have not done anything. People who are in charge of development control and land use management actually are responsible in terms of the zoning and where to put people.”

Magidimisha-Chipungu says the focus should be on climate resilient cities.

“Now you want to create an environment where you have surfaces which are permeable so that you do not have to worry a lot about channeling water in a particular direction, where its most likely going to be flooded. We are not in control of the movement of water, the water has taken control.”

In April, Margate businesses and residents on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast suffered two nights of flash floods, killing five people.

Last week, at least 11 people were killed after a tornado swept through several areas in the province.

The area of oThongathi was particularly impacted.