The provincial government has received a R55m donation from the UAE to support flood-relief efforts after the devastating storms which claimed at least 88 lives, 60 of them in Mthatha alone.
Speaking on Umhlobo Wenene FM on Sunday night, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane said the UAE’s pledge was among many from international governments, humanitarian organisations, businesses and individuals.
“I got a call from the UAE ambassador [Mahash Saeed Al Hameli],” he said.
“The president [Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan] said they would donate R55m towards assisting the Eastern Cape government to deal with the floods which have ravaged the province, especially Mthatha.
“We are very thankful for such assistance and this will be a meaningful intervention.”
Mabuyane said the province needed about R500m to rebuild houses and provide temporary shelters for victims.
He also acknowledged the official death toll could rise.
The provincial government has faced criticism over its disaster response, with some NGOs suggesting that more lives could have been saved if emergency services had been deployed more swiftly.
But Mabuyane rejected this, saying: “Many [more] lives could have been lost if there was not a prompt response by the government teams which were later joined by other stakeholders.
“The government was first to arrive and rescued many people in distress.
“We deployed every team from the health department and also the SAPS helicopter later joined.
“I don’t know where this criticism comes from.
“The teams rescued all people who were on trees and rooftops of houses — even three schoolchildren who were in a tree, but sadly a fourth child drowned.”
He admitted, however, that the province was under-resourced.
“We have an SAPS helicopter stationed in Nelson Mandela Bay and also we have a K9 unit stationed in East London, and both are far from Mthatha.
“I have been saying that we cannot have one SAPS helicopter for the entire Eastern Cape, which is vast.
“It is illogical to have the helicopter stationed in the end of the province.”
He noted that health department helicopters from Mthatha, East London and Gqeberha had also been used in search-and-rescue efforts
“We agree that rescue operations could have been done speedily if all the resources were readily available here in Mthatha.
“But we must also agree that we have worked very hard, acted professionally and saved many lives using the limited resources we have.”
Mabuyane said they had for a long time asked the national government to increase police helicopter capacity and disaster funding.
Police minister Senzo Mchunu visited Mthatha West on Saturday with national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola and acting provincial commissioner Major-General Thandiswa Kupiso.
He credited first responders for saving lives.
Nokhaya Mati said her family, including a two-year-old child, had been trapped on a rooftop for seven hours.
“We were on the roof from 5am and were rescued by a boat at about 12pm.
“It was by God’s grace that we were not dead,” she said.
The province will hold a day of mourning on Thursday in Decoligny village.
Daily Dispatch
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