SAHRC monitoring of government’s flood relief efforts

Meeting report

The chairing of the meeting was delegated to Mr J Nyambi (ANC, Mpumalanga) who welcomed all the attendees and gave the platform to the SAHRC to start with their presentation.

Ms Philile Ntuli, SAHRC Commissioner, said that the presentation aimed to join the discourse that Parliament was leading in pulling together the work done across the country, especially in the affected provinces of North West, KZN and the Eastern Cape. Because the floods were a humanitarian disaster, it had been very important for the SAHRC to be proactive and not just assess government's response, but to use its mandate to promote and protect human rights that had been affected on the ground.

SAHRC briefing

Ms Refilwe Chulu, Senior Legal Consultant/Project Manager for floods and disaster, SAHRC, highlighted the following points:

Response to the flood disaster

On 19 April, there was a Forum of Institutions Supporting Democracy (FISD) emergency principals meeting, where it was decided that there would be a monitoring and accountability room where they would:

• Co-ordinate better flow of information;
• Assess the framework and roadmap of the state;
• Monitor and provide immediate oversight of service delivery; and
• Make recommendations, where needs be.

On 20 April, there was a meeting with the KZN provincial government, where it was decided to afford the Commission access to the various response centres, and it was agreed to meet bi-weekly to establish a system of monitoring and reporting government's response.

On the same day, there was a meeting with civil society, where it was concluded that there would be a consolidation of concerns and the establishment of a forum for discussion and monitoring.

Monitoring observations in Eastern Cape

Areas within the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, Joe Gqabi and OR Tambo district municipalities had been affected, mainly regarding housing, water and sanitation, and roads and infrastructure. The following were the challenges observed by the SAHRC:

• Procurement processes by government were slow in comparison to private sector.
• Climate change was not appropriately being streamlined and disasters were frequenting.
• Damage to infrastructure may not have been caused by the most recent floods, as residents indicated in some instances that water and sanitation, and roads were damaged long before April. The floods may have only exacerbated the situation on the ground.

Not enough attention had been directed to the disasters in the Eastern Cape. The residents felt neglected by government, and there was a challenge with Treasury when it had to release funds to assist.

Monitoring observations in North West

The first heavy rain that caused the floods was on 17 December 2021, and the second was on 6 March. 

The most affected areas were Deelpan Village, Tswaing Local Municipality (Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality), and seven other villages in low-lying areas. 170 families were left destitute and homeless, and one person in Deelpan was reported dead.

On 13 May, the SAHRC visited the Deelpan Village and supplied the residents with food parcels, blankets, water and toiletries. They had also offered the 98 homeless people temporary accommodation at Deelpan Church, Tshegetsang Old Age Day Centre and the Tribal Hall.

On 16 May, the SAHRC hosted a FISD provincial meeting and concluded that they would assess the damage caused by the floods, local government's responses to the disaster at the humanitarian level, site inspections at the affected areas, and hold strategic engagements with the North-West government to ensure that short, medium and long terms plans were implemented.

On 19 May, Ms Kenetswe Mosenogi, Member of the Executive Council (MEC): Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, North West, stated that the area affected in Deelpan was not suitable for human settlement, as it was a wetland. There were concerns as to why the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) had continued to build reconstruction and development programme (RDP) houses without conducting a scientific study of the area.

On 24 May, Ms Pinky Kekana, Deputy Minister in the Presidency, visited Deelpan, and it was established by Ms Pamela Tshwete, Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, that there was an amount of R54.9 million ready to build houses for affected residents. The challenge was finding land, as they could not continue to build on wetland.

On 6 June, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) began repairing and constructing roads in the area.

On 13 June, Deelpan Church had ten women occupying it, and two men occupied Tribal Hall. The Community Police Forum (CPF) was still patrolling the area, as the South African Police Service (SAPS) had insufficient vans to delegate to the patrolling in the community. There were weekly meetings held between community members and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) for updates and solutions.

In July, the SAHRC communicated with the residents, and it was found that all residents who were placed in temporary shelters had gone to their homes, and those whose homes were still affected by the flood water had gone to their relatives' homes.

Currently, no information from the DHS has been provided to the residents about providing temporary housing while building new houses, and the residents refuse to leave without sufficient information.

Monitoring observations in Western Cape

This part was not discussed, as the presentation focused on events that had occurred in the period till May.

Monitoring observations in Kwa-Zulu Natal

KZN was the most affected province, and the SAHRC had given more attention to it. The floods mostly caused damage to homes, infrastructure and water availability.

From 15 to 19 August, the SAHRC held an inquiry into access to water across the various districts of KZN. The following needed to be investigated:

• How hard it was to access clean drinking water;
• The systematic nature of violations;
• How much the state's involvement was in making sure there was access to clean water; and
• The steps the state took to give the residents access to clean water.

Various affected districts and areas were visited, and these were the findings:

Molweni, Tshelimnyama and Marianridge

The temporary shelters were endangered, and school going children were not going to school. There was no security, insufficient mattresses to accommodate the number of people there, and insufficient psycho-social assistance for children.

uMzinyathi (Qadi), KwaMashu, Amaoti and KwaDukuza

There was a huge need for basic living provisions. Most community halls involved were managed by leaders affiliated with political parties, children were not going to school as they did not have school uniforms, and orphaned minors accommodated at the facilities in Qadi.

In Umlazi, Isipingo and Amanzimtoti

The shelters provided had no privacy and safety for their residents, and those accommodated relied on donations for basic living needs. There were mostly females there, and the children could not go to school due to the loss of uniforms.

The impact of the State of Disaster on the Right to Education was direct and indirect, and more than 500 schools were damaged in the Pinetown, Ugu and uMlazi districts.

In April, the financial resources needed to provide mobile classrooms were estimated to be R411 million. The KZN Department of Education had provided the Commission with a detailed "school catch-up" programme" to cover the lost curriculum.

Matters of ongoing concern

The following were areas that the SAHRC needed to focus on as a response to the crisis at hand:

1. Availability of water and water infrastructure across the affected provinces and municipalities, especially the Tongaat area in KZN.
2. Slow delivery of housing in rural areas.
3. Unrecovered remains of damaged graves.
4. Unclaimed bodies in mortuaries.
5. Acute effect of floods on persons with disabilities and the elderly.
6. Lack of adequate psycho-social support.
7. Limited availability of health care services during the disaster period.
8. The recovery of the remains of those who perished or were lost during the floods.

Discussion

Mr T Brauteseth (DA, Kwa-Zulu Natal) asked if the Commission had received any concerns about the sewage that had polluted the sanitation and water system at the Ethekwini municipality, as this was a rapidly rising problem. Had the Commission investigated this and come up with an action plan to afford the residents a fulfilment of their right to quality water and sanitation?

Mr M Rayi (ANC, Eastern Cape) noticed that there was no report of specific areas that had been visited and monitored in the Eastern Cape -- only a general report. He observed that there was no involvement of the national departments in response to the crisis in the affected areas, and asked why that was.

Ms M Ntuli (ANC) asked when the Commission would table the report on monitoring relief funds in KZN, and if it had faced any difficulties in monitoring the affected areas in KZN.

SAHRC's response

Commissioner Ntuli said that the Auditor-General (AG) was auditing the execution of relief funds, and had released its first tabled report on 31 August.

She said the major difficulty the SAHRC had experienced was the coordination and facilitation of communication among the various spheres of government. She added that Mr Chris Nissen (SAHRC Commissioner) had visited various areas, especially the Port St Johns municipality in the Eastern Cape.

Adv Jonas Sibanyoni, SAHRC Commissioner, said that the SAHRC had not received any report or concerns about the sewage that was polluting the sanitation and water at the Ethekwini municipality, and said the human rights division in the municipality had started with investigations, as they had their own separate initiative that was related to the environment in the area.

Mr Nissen said that the Commission was concerned about the state's slow response to the crisis and its implementation of crisis management. The affected citizens were aware of the R30 million donated by Mr Patrice Motsepe to the state, but no services had been delivered to respond to the crisis.

Committee business

The Chairperson extended a vote of thanks to the SAHRC, and excused them from the next part of the meeting. He asked the Committee to discuss a physical visit to KZN and a way forward to deal with the damage evident from the floods.

He suggested that the trip planned to KZN for this Friday (16 September) should be cancelled, as there was a lot of travelling to be done in a short time, and there were accommodation challenges. The activities that they were supposed to follow up on in the Ugu municipality were still in the process of being done. He suggested that monitoring educational delays should be left in the hands of the Department of Education in KZN.

Mr L Mangcu (ANC) welcomed the suggestion, but was concerned about the Eastern Cape and asked that it be given more attention, especially the Port St Johns municipality.

Mr Brauteseth reminded the Committee about the visit to the Disaster Management Centre in Cape Town before they reported on the affected municipalities.

The Chairperson said he would discuss the matter with the Deputy Chairperson, and advise it accordingly in due course.

Mr M Bara (DA, Gauteng) emphasised the request that the Eastern Cape should be given more attention.

Ms Nola Matinise, Committee Secretary, made the Committee aware that the flights and accommodation were already booked, and that cancellation would cause unnecessary loss to Parliament.

The Chairperson said that they were aware of the confirmed bookings, and asked if there were further questions.

In the absence of further questions, he adjourned the meeting.