Today, I held a meeting alongside the City Manager, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni, officials from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), the City’s Disaster Management Centre, our Environmental Health, Citizen Relationship and Urban Management, Social Development and Group Risk and Advisory Services departments, City entities, NGOs and officials from the Gauteng Provincial government.
The aim of the meeting was to discuss the need for further relief to be provided to communities affected by last week’s violent storm.
From the beginning, it has been clear that, given the damage caused by the storm, the City cannot hope to address the needs of all those affected. Indeed, to date, 3152 households were affected by the storm.
Based on on-going inspections and evaluations, damages to properties throughout the City are currently estimated to be close to R186,5 million. As City officials continue to assess the damage, this number is expected to rise.
In the main, the damages included failing roofs, boundary walls and collapsing household extensions. The affected structures are said to be between 1 to 20 years old. In a number of cases, roofing on properties had been partially lifted off the structures by strong winds.
It should be noted that some of the houses affected by the storm did not have facia boards and/or guttering on their structures, which normally play a role in preventing wind from entering undereneath the roof structures.
Given the damage to the City, the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, and extensive stakeholder consultations, including the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre, I have taken the decision that the City must declare a local state of disaster.
To address the challenge faced by communities following the storm, the City, working together with provincial government and NGOs, has instituted a number of interventions to assist residents:
• The City’s Group Risk Advisory Services will continue to conduct a full risk assessment of the damage caused by the storm.
Further to this, Group Risk Advisory Services will also conduct an investigation into the quality of some of the buildings which collapsed as a result of the storm, particularly:
1) The identities of contractors involved in the construction of some of these buildings;
2) The City’s role in issuing certificates of occupation which affirm the safety of these buildings; and
3) The role of financial institutions, such as lenders and banks, who fund construction of some of these poor buildings.
This investigation is expected to be completed within the next 60 days;
• City Power - 5 substations in the western part of the City were affected by the storm. Normal power operations within the City have now been restored. Eskom also reports that it has restored major power outages emanating from the storm. Despite this, City Power will continue to monitor the situation and urges residents to log any faults detected;
• Joburg Water - 2 substations experienced pipe bursts during the storm. These have been repaired and normal operations have resumed;
• City Parks – Debris, stones and fallen trees blown onto the road and obstructing the flow of traffic have been cleared. City Parks will now move into the next phase of cleaning-up debris by removing any materials still left on sidewalks;
• Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) – Traffic lights affected by the storm are now in working order. Despite this, JRA urges all residents to report any faults detected on our roads.
• Gauteng Provincial Department – the province has provided temporary accommodation in the form of emergency tents to the 1200 people displaced by the storm. Adding to this, the City made community centres available for the purpose of providing temporary shelter. Further, the provincial Department of Social Development continues to assist those worst affected with the provision of food parcels.
That said, it has been disheartening to receive reports of disgruntled residents who have disturbed disaster relief efforts. Earlier this week, the City’s Social Development Department’s Food Bank was refused entry into Protea Glen. The Food Bank was mean to handover disaster relief materials, including food to families which were affected by the storm.
Adding to this, assessors from the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) were disturbed and threatened while trying to assess affected houses. If we are to succeed in assisting communities, these actions of a few must be condemned in the strongest terms. I plead with communities to work with both local and provincial government and our stakeholders in order to help those in need.
I also ask communities to resist those who would use their plight to advance their own selfish agendas.
The City’s main priority is to ensure that affected residents receive the necessary disaster relief materials promptly; the recent resistance from a few is unacceptable.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all the role players involved in assisting our residents, especially the Provincial Government, our partners in the NGO sector and our Public Safety Departments’ personnel for their continued support and vigilance.
An emergency hotline has been activated for reporting of emergencies, service delivery disruptions and for making donations: (011 674 0038).
Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor
City of Joburg
Media queries:
Luyanda Mfeka
Director: Mayoral Communications
Office of the Executive Mayor
Cell: 076 171 5978
Email: luyandam@joburg.org.za
