Chairperson, last week the province of KwaZulu- Natal experienced the severe impact of tropical storm Irina, which ravaged some countries in the Southern African Development Community region, killing many people in its wake and destroying property and infrastructure. In KwaZulu-Natal province homes were destroyed in Ulundi, KwaNongoma, Ntambanana, KwaDukuza and in the uMkhanyakude District. A total of 48 families were affected by these severe storms and 6 were relocated. We must applaud the disaster response authorities under the auspices of the provincial department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs for playing a meaningful role in alerting residents and relocating people to safe community halls. Their prompt and swift action in setting up joint operations in readiness for the disaster must be recommended.
Another disaster in the same week as the KwaZulu-Natal storms was the fire that ravaged an area in Langa in the Western Cape, where a woman was killed and 1 000 people at the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa were left homeless. At present some of the people are being accommodated in community halls and the cause of the fire is being investigated.
Since the incident happened the ANC has been working in the area daily through our constituency offices and distributing food parcels to displaced residents. As the ANC, we must express our support and well wishes for the affected families as they rebuild their lives after the disaster. We urge the disaster relief agencies and fellow citizens to offer any form of assistance to the affected families.