#KZNFloods death toll revised down – Cele

Police Minister, Bheki Cele has announced that the figure of 448 deaths as a result of the floods in KwaZulu-Natal has been revised to 435.

Cele says autopsies found that 13 people had not died as a result of disaster.

Last week, the province saw floods that left scores displaced and ravaged homes and infrastructure.

Rescue efforts are underway for many who remain unaccounted for.

Cele was briefing the media from Pretoria on the efforts by the Security Cluster to assist the province on Thursday.

Cele says autopsies reveal that four bodies were found to have bullet wounds while in another nine cases, deaths were determined to have been due to natural causes. This, while some people are still missing following the devastating floods in the province.

Cele has, however, given the assurance that all hands are on deck as the search and rescue operations continue: “A total of 435 people have died as a result of the floods that ravaged the KwaZulu-Natal province. There was a figure of 448 fatalities which has now been revised to 435. This is a result of autopsies performed on 4 bodies and it was determined that the deaths were murder related as they were found with bullet wounds. Three of the bodies are from Pinetown and one is from… Nine more people were determined to have died from natural causes which were not related to disaster.”

The Home Affairs Department is expected to assist in replacing the documents of residents who lost them during the floods.

Cele announced that this intervention by the Department would be at no cost: “The Department will be replacing birth certificates, temporary identity certificates and IDs of people affected by the disaster. This service is available only to members of communities who have lost their documents during the disaster. The Department is working with the City of eThekwini and the District Municipality… to identify people who need assistance. The local councillors verify names of people supplied to the Disaster Management Operation centre. After these approvals, the lists are forwarded to Home Affairs for processing.”

Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana has announced that R1 billion is immediately available to assist and as funds become available,

South Africans have raised concerns over their possible misuse.

Cele has warned that those who siphon money meant for relief in KwaZulu-Natal will be arrested: “People that are plundering and stealing money will be arrested, simple. The President has issued a very strict instruction. It would be good if people don’t wait for the police, they listen to their conscience. The situation is dire there. Some of us who have walked down there, when a family of 12 is wiped off and only 2 left out of the family of 12 and you still have the audacity of going to steal – you are not a human being yourself, you are some kind of animal.”