The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-24)

The Sunday Times April 24, 2022 3

I

t’s difficult to overstate just how

badly the unprecedented heavy

rains and flooding of last week have

affected our city, Durban. Not only

in the destruction it brought — 435

people were killed and 63 are still missing

— but also in its psychological effect.

It appears to have been the deadliest

natural disaster in South Africa’s

history. A “state of national disaster”

has been declared as a result and

now what is usually a laidback,

friendly and welcoming city is

nothing short of traumatised.

Babies, toddlers, school

children, parents and the elderly

are all among the dead. Thousands

of homes have been destroyed and

many have been displaced. People

have lost the basics. Families and

communities are waiting next to rivers in

the hope they’ll see the bodies of their

loved ones. Sihle Zikalala, the premier of

KwaZulu-Natal, said it would cost billions

to restore damaged infrastructure.

But even in the midst of such tragedy

and uncertainty, criminality has raised its

ugly head in the form of looting. Flood

victims have also taken to the streets to

demand housing and the restoration of

water and electricity. Major routes and

roads were damaged, affecting the

delivery of essential items such as fuel,

which is running low. Afraid of losing

their jobs, residents of the Umlazi

township risked their lives to get to work

during the disaster.

It was a particularly hard blow after the

city and province had started rebuilding

in the wake of the devastation caused by

two years of Covid-19. And after the

violence that engulfed parts of this

province and neighbouring Gauteng last

summer, following the incarceration of

former president Jacob Zuma when he

was found guilty of failing to appear

before the state capture commission over

corruption allegations, the recent looting

brought back painful memories.

Wandering around the streets last

weekend I was struck by how empty it

seemed. It wasn’t much of an Easter

break. A dark cloud of mourning hung

over the city. Long weekends usually

give Durban an extra buzz, but this time

was different, especially with further

heavy rains expected. Nevertheless,

Durbanites are nothing if not resilient.

We’d been

ready to

welcome

travellers

from

around the

world, but

the weather

had other

ideas

Durban is a city

that thrives on

tourism, but after

the floods the

clear-up, above,

will take years

The population is one of the most

ethnically diverse in South Africa, but the

disaster has brought everyone together.

They did not sit back and wait for

missing people to be found by emergency

services. Instead, when most of the

flooding had eased, they dug through the

mud and debris and recovered the bodies

of loved ones and neighbours. The spirit

of Ubuntu (it means humanity, and can

be translated as “I am because you

are” and “humanity towards others”)

proved particularly strong in those

areas, including KwaMashu,

Ntuzuma and Inanda, that had

neither water nor electricity. The

eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda

said the flooding in his area was worse

than in 2011, 2017 and 2019.

It’s been a challenging couple of years

for Durban. The city relies on tourism and

Covid hit it hard. At the pandemic’s nadir,

everything was shut down.

Last Monday, president Cyril

Ramaphosa addressed the nation to tell

us that the extent and impact of the floods

meant the designation of a provincial

state of disaster was “inadequate” to

deal with the scale of the emergency

and “the required reconstruction and

rehabilitation measures and responses”.

The government therefore declared a

national state of disaster.

Ramaphosa also said the government

would respond in three phases. First, it

will focus on immediate humanitarian

relief. A focus on stabilisation and

recovery will follow, rehousing people

who have lost homes and restoring the

provision of services. Finally comes the

reconstruction and rebuilding.

This month, Ramaphosa updated

travel restrictions so that visitors entering

South Africa now need to show proof of

vaccination or a negative PCR test not

older than 72 hours, or take an antigen

test on arrival. We had been ready to

welcome travellers from around the

world, but the weather had other ideas.

Now we rebuild. I can’t help feeling

uneasy about reports of looting,

mismanagement and protests. But we

will rise again, through the efforts of

the municipality, provincial and national

governments, businesses, NGOs and

the community.

Thobeka Ngema is a reporter for

the Daily News in Durban

The recent floods were devastating — but Durbanites

are nothing if not resilient, says Thobeka Ngema

COVER PHOTOGRAPH: VITOR L. PHOTOGRAPHY

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