Sunday Tribune

KZN’S ‘State of Disaster’ welcomed

SIBONISO MNGADI siboniso.mngadi@inl.co.za

DECLARING Kwazulu-natal in a state of disaster has been lauded as a good move.

The announcement was made by Premier Sihle Zikalala due to the magnitude of the damages suffered by businesses and municipalities during the unrest that engulfed the province two weeks ago.

Zikalala said the decision was made after the preliminary assessment indicated that the businesses suffered a loss of over R1.5 billion while municipal damages amounted to more than R47million.

However, the provincial government will have to wait for the classification of the state of the disaster from the national government to get green light for accessing contingency budgets.

According to the Disaster Management Act, once the state of disaster has been declared, the government can allow the mobilisation of contingency arrangements developed as part of the disaster management plan of the applicable sphere of government to provide fast and effective relief to the affected areas.

The provincial executive, by virtue of the declaration of the state of disaster, has a responsibility to deal with the disaster through the implementation of extraordinary measures.

Detailing the procedure, Lennox Mabaso, Zikalala’s spokesperson, said it was too early to tell when exactly the provincial government would be able to implement the disaster plan.

“We will have to wait for the national government to classify the disaster.

“This will include only the public facilities such as schools, halls, state vehicles that were vandalised during the unrest.

“The declaration will enable all departments and municipalities to prioritise their budget and repair the essential services that were affected during the unrest.

It will also allow the provincial government to request more from the national department and treasury because even the reprioritised budget may not be enough to do all the repairs,” said Mabaso.

The business fraternity welcomed the call for the declaration but called for more focus on the private sector which was most affected.

Melanie Veness, chief executive at the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce said they would seek more clarity from the government on how the private sector would be assisted.

“As far as I’m aware, very little damage was done to government infrastructure in Pietermaritzburg, the damage was to private sector infrastructure.

“It is unclear from the premier’s announcement whether there would be any relief in the reprioritised funds for the rebuilding of the private sector.

“This is where we’re going to battle and where jobs will be lost. If we don’t incentivise affected businesses to stay and help them rebuild, then we aren’t likely to see economic recovery in the province any time soon.

“Doing this would also go a long way to restoring business confidence, which is at an all-time low and re-establishing a rates base to ensure municipal stability.

“Msunduzi Municipality is in a dire financial position and the unavoidable revaluation of damaged properties will have a sustained negative impact on city finances,” she said.

Mike Schussler, founder of economist said the declaration would assist in rebuilding the public infrastructure but it may take some time to attract new investors.

“It will assist the government to release some funds, but it will take some time for businesses to recover. We also do not know the finer details of the state of disaster, we do not know how far it will go in terms of saving jobs and creating more opportunities.

“The culprits of the unrest must be held accountable while the state is attending to the remedies. This will send a strong message and give assurance that there will be no repeat.

“I think declaring the state of disaster is a move in the right direction but there is a lot more that needs to be done,” he said.

METRO

en-za

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sundaytribune.pressreader.com/article/281599538540948

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