Durban - While political parties debate where they will find money to rebuild flood damage in KwaZulu-Natal, rural communities and schools are in desperate need of food as they battle to recover.
Close to 500 people died and several hundreds left homeless following the April floods.
In many communities the communal gardens which they relied on to feed themselves were washed away.
Sphesihle Radebe from the community based organisation Woza Moya, near Ixopo, said that apart from their gardens, homes and cattle were also washed away.
Radebe appealed to communities to put their hands in their pockets to ensure that everyone had a place to sleep and food to eat.
He said children and adults faced malnutrition as a result of food insecurity.
His fears were echoed by Teressa Ngobese from the Training and Resources in Early Education organisation who said the centres which they supported were badly damaged and could be a safety risk to children.
Ngobese said apart from food, they needed building materials to fix and rebuild the affected facilities.
Meanwhile, the DA has called on KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala to explain how the province would fund the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure after the legislature’s CoGTA portfolio committee revealed that at least R25 billion would be needed to do so.
DA MPL Martin Meyer said: “Our main concern is the financial implications of rebuilding while both national and provincial governments continue to send mixed messages about help which may or may not be coming. This is an issue which demands clarity from both the premier and the president.”
Meyer said with more than 85 000 people and 27 000 households severely affected, aid could not be provided soon enough.
The Independent on Saturday