16 April 2022

The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its message of heartfelt condolences to the families of all the loved ones who lost their lives during the recent KZN flooding disaster. The SACP wishes speedy recovery for all the injured and calls for prompt efforts for the rehabilitation of homes and infrastructure.

Up to 395 people are reported to have died following the devastating floods thus far, with more still missing. Over 40,000 people have been affected by the floods. The SACP calls for swift efforts to find the missing and proactivity to prevent further loss of life as more rains are forecasted this weekend.

While the SACP supports the government’s declaration of emergency and rescue efforts, more needs to be done. The evidence shows how people living in informal settlements were heavily devastated by the floods, particularly those who are settled in floodplains. It will effectively take them an exceptionally long time to recover from the devastation, thus government must hasten to provide emergency aid to those communities as well. However, it is also crucial that government and municipalities engage our people effectively to ensure they do not build settlements in floodplains.

We must in earnest deal with the reality of climate change and the role of capitalist greed in destroying the environment. Everywhere, capitalism’s voracious need for ever-expanding growth has resulted in the destruction of the metabolic relation between societies and nature. Our struggle for sustainable development, characterised by the decommodification of the environment, among other elements, will contribute to finding long-term solutions to the extremely irregular weather patterns.

The floods also point to the reality that our infrastructure development needs serious attention. There is therefore the absolute necessity of responding through significant upscaling of public employment programmes to fix and build our infrastructure, particularly storm water drainage systems and roads. There is also the need to ensure that emergency and other public services respond to all and not leave the poor communities behind.

The disturbing results of the floods also point to the need for the utilisation of science to harness innovative technologies for infrastructure and settlements that are more resilient to inclement weather and flooding, as we are now really dealing with the negative impact of climate change.

In the implementation of emergency efforts, in the short and long terms, we must be strict in ensuring that government responses do not become another platform for corruption. Corruption will only worsen the plight of the flood victims, particularly the working class and poor.

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