Cape Town - The South African Human Rights Commission on Monday said it was concerned about unclaimed bodies and graves that had been left open, after the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape and North West.
Briefing Parliament’s ad hoc committee on disaster floods and recovery, project manager for disaster Refilwe Chulu said they were concerned with the non-recovery of the remains of people who perished in the floods.
“We also uncovered damages to the graves that have not been properly attended to. There are a lot of unclaimed bodies in the mortuaries,” Chulu said.
Last month, the committee heard that it had been difficult for the police to identify 17 bodies that remained unclaimed following the floods, and that DNA matches were found in four potential cases.
There were 457 fatalities and 82 missing people reported in KwaZulu-Natal after the floods that caused massive damage to infrastructure and displacement of people in April.
The Eastern Cape had seven reported fatalities, one person missing and three reported injuries.
Chulu said the commission was also concerned about the availability of water and water infrastructure across the affected three provinces and municipalities that were hit by the flood disaster.
Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular, was facing an acute crisis, she said.
Last month residents protested over access to water, prompting the Cabinet to condemn the destruction of infrastructure.
Chulu also expressed concern at the slow delivery of housing in the rural areas.
She said the floods had a devastating impact on people with disabilities, and the elderly.
“There was limited availability of healthcare services during the disaster period and there was a lack of adequate psychosocial support for all those affected,” she said.
Chulu also said there had been a direct and indirect impact on the right to education, as a result of the floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
“More than 500 schools within the province were severely damaged.”
“The direct impact refers to damage to school infrastructure and subsequent temporary closure of schools for a period of two weeks,” she said.
Chulu also said indirect impact referred to learners who were victims of the disaster and missed school due to the loss of their homes, school uniforms and basic school necessities such as textbooks, bags, and stationery.
“The most affected education districts were Pinetown, Ugu, and uMlazi,” she said.
Cape Times