The economic cost of the heavy rains and floods in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape will run into billions of rands, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday night as he announced a national state of disaster.
"A comprehensive assessment of the economic cost of these floods still has to be made, but it is clear that it will run into billions of rands for the rebuilding of infrastructure and loss of production," he said.
Critically, the Port of Durban, one of the largest and busiest shipping terminals on the continent and a vital part of the SA economy, has been severely affected. Access to the port has been disrupted by extensive damage to the Bayhead Road – a key route that links the port to the rest of the country and handles 13 000 heavy vehicles per day.
"It is going to take a massive effort, drawing on the resources and capabilities of the entire nation, to recover from this disaster. We will make financial resources available to meet this challenge," Ramaphosa said, adding that the Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has said that R1 billion is immediately available. Parliament will be approached for the appropriation of additional resources, he said.