The death toll from last month’s South Africa floods and the recent heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal has reached 459 people, KwaZulu Natal premier Sihle Zikalala confirmed on Sunday.
Briefing reporters on the situation in the province regarding the recent floods, Zikalala said some 88 people are still missing after the disaster that left US$1.7 billion damage to infrastructure in the province.
“We have close to 45,000 employees who are at home because factories in urban south basin are still not open,” Zikalala said.
Meanwhile, Qatar has airlifted humanitarian assistance to KwaZulu-Natal province which arrived on Sunday at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport accompanied by a Qatari delegation made up of several ministers.
Describing the Qatari support as encouraging, Zikalala said “it is the humanitarian support which talked to various things that are required when people are affected by floods.”
“We’ve been trying to ensure that we build good relationships with various countries. We are inspired that Qatar feels they should come in and assist us during our time of need,” the premier said.
NM/jn/APA