Africa-Press – South-Africa. Months after the devastating April floods in KwaZulu-Natal authorities are still working to find and identify 72 people.
“There are still 72 missing people. DNA services are being rendered with the support of the South African Police Service and recently eight DNA results came back with positive results, which is significant progress,” KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said on Thursday.
She was speaking at a press briefing at the Mayville Public Works office in Durban where she gave a comprehensive account of the situation following the disaster.
“We are aware that some families are seeking closure, [and we are] taking into consideration all the sensitivities and emotional issues around this matter,” Dube-Ncube said.
The premier added that searches were ongoing, and authorities were working tirelessly to find and identify the remains of flood victims.
She said the DNA testing for flood victims was a priority.
“The DNA relating to the disaster is being prioritised and is not being handled like all other DNA.”
There were, however, still challenges in identifying the dead.
“Unfortunately, because of the nature of the DNA that they are dealing with, it is not an easy task. Sometimes they do DNA testing three or four times to try to identify a person,” said Dube-Ncube.
Housing and shelters
Dube-Ncube said the Department of Human Settlements had used over R325 million from the Provincial Emergency Housing Grant for emergency housing, including providing Temporary Residential Units (TRUs).
She said 1 592 TRUs had been completed with 1 511 being occupied.
“The other 81 completed will be occupied in KwaDukuza Municipality as soon as services are installed. We anticipate that by the end of this week the services will have been installed resulting in the closing down of four mass care centres of the existing eight in KwaDukuza.”
The remaining four would be shut down by the end of the month, completing the total shutdown of all shelters in KwaDukuza, she said.
Of the original 135 shelters, 71 have since been closed while 64 remain open. Of the 64, 50 are from eThekwini Metro.
“Daily we are closing these mass-care centres and are moving people into temporary emergency units. The recent examples are the closure of Thandanani in KwaDukuza, the Shembe, 38 Avenue and Nondlini in the eThekwini Metro.”
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