KZN premier Sihle Zikalala says national government could have “done better” to assist the province as it recovers from the deadly floods that have devastated infrastructure.
In a recent interview, Zikalala revealed the National Treasury was invited to form part of a joint team that assessed the damage. But instead only the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (Misa) sent representatives.
According to Zikalala, a joint assessment would have allowed the National Treasury to release relief funds much earlier.
“I think they could have done better. Not in theory but in practice,” he said when asked if national government did enough to assist the province.
“There hasn’t been a co-ordinated approach ... For an instance, why do we still have to communicate about R1bn? It was said it will be given to KZN. All of a sudden it’s a national allocation, not for KZN. We said to the minister of finance, let us have a joint team of engineers and specialists who will go and assess the damage of the floods.
“Only Misa has been there. We report to the national disaster management centre. The national disaster management centre conducts an assessment, then takes that assessment to the National Treasury. Treasury would want to do their own verification before making the allocation. So they could have co-ordinated better.”
Zikalala will run for re-election as provincial chairperson of the ANC in KZN at a conference to be held in Durban next week. His slate includes education MEC Kwazi Mshengu as his deputy, Mdumiseni Ntuli as provincial secretary, KZN legislature speaker Nontembeko Boyce as deputy secretary and MEC of human settlements Jomo Sibiya as treasurer.
There hasn’t been a co-ordinated approach ... For an instance, why do we still have to communicate about R1bn? It was said that it will be given to KZN. All of a sudden it’s a national allocation, not for KZN.
— Sihle Zikalala, KZN premier
The groups that oppose Zikalala have not agreed on one candidate, but those believed to be eyeing his position include MEC of finance Nomusa Dube-Ncube, MPL Siboniso Duma, former Newcastle mayor Ntuthuko Mahlaba and businessman Sandile Zungu.
More than 27,000 families were affected by the floods in KZN. Thousands of families remain in temporary shelters across the province. Schools, buildings, bridges and sanitation infrastructure were also damaged.
The provincial government has had to reprioritise its budget and later claim from disaster grants.
The floods came months after the province dealt with another disaster caused by the riots last year in July.
Last week Zikalala released a report of government efforts to rebuild the province after the unrest.
This also includes attempts to unite Indian and African communities that clashed during the riots.
Zikalala said there were a number of programmes put in place in an attempt to make peace in areas such as Phoenix and Chatsworth in Durban. He singled out school games that had been organised as part of social cohesion. He said negotiations in the areas were ongoing.
“There is a committee that has started negotiations. There is also a forum that we put together as part of the social cohesion and moral regeneration council. These are bodies that try to unite communities. At a provincial level we have a council on moral regeneration and social cohesion that is chaired by the premier. That structure goes down to the areas that are affected.
“In KZN there is historical tension between Indians and Africans. This is because you have whites, Indians and then Africans at the lowest level of the ladder. It is a reality that some Africans are mobilising on the basis that Indians are richer than them and are exploiting Africans. It is a perception that is there. If we don’t address that perception, we’ll be prone to that (mobilisation).”
He said it had been a huge task to convince businesses that KZN was now safe to conduct business.
“It’s a mammoth task. The security plan that is in place is one of those interventions that help us to assure people we won’t have such situations happening again. Second, the work we are doing at the economic council with those companies that are in the province, ensures these strong companies continue to invest, and that gives confidence. Toyota, Sappi Mondi are just some of those big companies. Those companies have an affirmation, and they demonstrate that we do have big companies here,” he said.
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