R70m set aside for storm-damaged homes, schools
FOLLOWING a series of storms that wreaked havoc across the province and left countless families without shelter, the provincial government has set aside R70-million to help those who lost homes.
The funds will also be used to rebuild storm-damaged schools and other government buildings affected by the weather.
Premier Phumulo Masualle made the announcement last Friday in his state of the province address in Bhisho.
Hundreds of houses in Alfred Nzo, O R Tambo and Amathole districts and parts of Buffalo City Metro were destroyed, resulting in at least four deaths, when the storms hit these areas between November last year and February this year.
The Dispatch reported in November that in Alfred Nzo alone three people died, including a young boy, and hundreds were left homeless when 169 houses were destroyed during a hailstorm that ravaged large parts of Matatiele, Mount Ayliff and Ntabankulu.
A similar storm swept through several villages in the province last month and left a 50-year-old person dead in Dutywa, while 44 others were injured, 18 schools destroyed, and 750 homes damaged.
The 50-year-old victim was a Msintsana village resident in the Thaleni Administrative Area between Dutywa and Willowvale.
In Komga, a storm swept through a location where several houses were damaged, including one where a quick-witted teenager grabbed her eight-year-old nephew out of mid-air as the boy was lifted up by a raging gale.
Weeks later another storm hit Mthatha, uprooting trees and smashing power lines. This resulted in thousands of residents being left without electricity for weeks.
“We are experiencing unusual climatic conditions, such as the recent one in Mthatha which struck twice within a space of a few days,” said Masualle. “As a province, we have allocated R70-million towards assistance and support to the affected communities.”
The grant will be managed through the provincial disaster management centre, which the premier said will work “in collaboration with municipalities”.