At the re-opening of Injesuthi River Bridge where three people were swept away last year, MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma asked God to give strength to the families of the Nepal flood victims
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At the reopening of the Injesuthi river bridge, in Wartburg, KZN Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma said officials were liaising with DIRCO after six residents from Isipingo and Ladysmith disappeared during the floods in Nepal, on Wednesday,
He also outlined provincial work to repair flood damaged roads and bridges ahead of the summer rains.
"First and foremost, as the people of KwaZulu-Natal we must pray for the families of six KZN residents, from Isihingo and Ladysmith, who disapeared following devastating floods in Nepal.
The trauma that families are experiencing will take many years to heal, but we are hopeful that the support being offered by the people of KwaZulu-Natal, non-governmental organisations and South African government will give them enough strength and courage to tide over this storm," he said.
"In my capacity as the leader of government business, I have assigned officials to liaise with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and ensure that there is no gap between the DIRCO and families in KZN," Duma added.
He said as KZN approached the rainy summer season, they were already doing a risk profile of vulnerable communities.
"Importantly, we are accelerating the rehabilitation and upgrading roads and bridges damaged by recurring floods. We have reopened Injesuthi River Bridge, which connects Wartburg and New Hanover under Umshwathi Local Municipality outside Pietermaritzburg."
This bridge suffered extensive structural damage after torrential rains triggered flash floods and three residents from Shiyabazali, an informal settlement located on the river floodplain, were swept away.
"The re-opening of the bridge forms part of ongoing rehabilitation projects committed on the ground amounting to R14.6 billion with anticipated outputs of five million two hundred thousand square meters (5, 2 million m²) over the next MTEF period.
"We are focusing on increasing the lifespan of our road networks through resealing. We resealed commitments at R666 million with anticipated outputs of nine hundred three thousand six hundred square meters (903, 6 thousand m²) over the next MTEF period," added Duma.
He said the department was also upgrading gravel roads to surface roads in various corners of the province, working with the Amakhosi.
"We will be opening roads and bridges, including Welisizwe Bridges," Duma said.
