The Western Cape Government says preliminary reports indicate that the storms that lashed the province last month caused damage to the tune of nearly R10 billion.
It says the scale of the damage exceeds the provincial department’s budget and delivery capacity.
The provincial government says additional funding will be sought from the national government.
Eleven people have died in the widespread floods, and one person is still missing.
The Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, has described the storm as the worst in recent memory.
The premier’s spokesperson, Regan Thaw, says, “The province’s agriculture sector sustained damages of more than R5.2 billion, while damage to transport infrastructure currently stands at just under R2 billion. These are preliminary and unverified figures. While Eskom’s electricity efforts are making progress, with 95% of affected areas reconnected, many residents in the hardest hit regions are still without power.”
Garden Route & Little Karoo damage
Damage to municipal areas across the Garden Route and Little Karoo district from the recent severe storms exceeds half a billion rand.
Disaster head, Gerhard Otto, said the consolidated assessment was compiled by Garden Route District Municipality, with information received from affected local municipalities.
He says the report has identified widespread damage to critical infrastructure, public facilities, water supply systems, roads, storm water networks, community facilities and municipal buildings.
Otto says the most significant damage was recorded in the George Municipality, followed by Knysna and Bitou.
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