A United Nations technical team is visiting South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to assess the damage caused by the recent floods that hit the area so that the world body can speed up relief efforts, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.
This is not the first time that the UN has undertaken such humanitarian work in the country, having done so three years ago, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa, Ayodele Odusola, said.
“We have been supporting the province following the floods in 2019 and the civil unrest of 2021,” Odusola said.
He added: “We will continue to support rebuilding efforts to ensure that no-one is left behind as part of the Memorandum of Understanding that we have in place with the provincial leadership.”
The technical team, comprising members of various UN agencies, is expected to end its assessment of the damages on Thursday, he added.
The technical team has so far met with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the eThekwini Municipality to assess the areas needing support from the UN development system, according to Odusola.
The latest KwaZulu-Natal floods left over 400 people dead, with thousands of others left homeless, records show.
NM/jn/APA