Question NW1038 to the Minister of Transport

Reply:

The Department of Transport and various other Departments are working closely with the Department of Cooperative Governance (DoCG) and the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC), the designated government body responsible for handling of natural disasters taking place in South Africa.

The NDMC received incident reports from various provinces and shared same with affected sector departments for support coordination and intervention measures.

Relevant structures were activated in all affected provinces through the coordination of Provincial Disaster Management Centres (PDMCs) for activation of provincial response plans as well as coordination of reports by organs of state and relevant stakeholders. This was done in line with the 2021/22 National Summer Seasonal Contingency Plan.

All PDMCs and some Sector Departments also submitted their Summer Seasonal Plans. The NDMC activated and coordinates the National Joint Flood Operational Committee (NJFCC) that constitutes all relevant organs of state for preparedness measures, contingency arrangements and intervention measures

a) Based on the initial assessments conducted by provincial road authorities, the extent of the damages is estimated at R11 919 909 965 in the various provinces.

Province	District Municipalities	No of Local Municipalities	Assessments Estimated Cost
			Reprioritisation	Shortfall
Eastern Cape	Sarah Baartman, Joe Gqabi, Amathole and OR Tambo	27	Not Quantified	R1 469 393 770
Free State	Lejweleputswa, Xhariep, Fezile Dabi, Mangaung and Thabo Mofutsanyana		Not Quantified	R504 400 000
Kwa-Zulu Natal	eThekwini Metro, Ugu, iLembe, Umgungundlovu, Amajuba, Harry Gwala Uthukela and uMzinyathi,	32	Not Quantified	R2 794 650 801
Limpopo	Capricorn, Sekhukhune, Waterberg, Vhembe and Mopani	22	R29 370 000	R2 021 780 000
Mpumalanga	Bohlabela, Ehlanzeni, Gert Sibande and District Nkangala District	16	R4 000 000	R157 600 000
North west	Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Bojanala, Ngaka Modiri Molema and Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati	10	R99 300 000	R4 632 900 560
Northern Cape	Francees Baard, John Taolo Gaetsewe, Namaqua, ZF Mgawu and Pixley ka Seme		0	R309 814 834
Grand Total			R132 670 000	R11 919 909 965

Table 1: Estimated Cost of Flood Damages

b) The restoration works of infrastructure will be planned, scheduled and undertaken based on the inspections and assessments. Officials from the Department shall assist the teams to conduct the detailed site inspections and assessments (already in progress) as per details provide below:

Province	District / Region	Roads / Sites	Date
Kwa-Zulu Natal	Ladysmith, Durban, Pietermaritzburg	D2502, D91, P40, P549, P205/2, P213, D96	10-11 March 2022
Eastern Cape	Amathole, Alfred Nzo, Sarah Baartman, Joe Gqabi, OR Tambo, Chris Hani	DR08047, DR08403, DR08044, DR08331, DR08346, DR2764	16-17 March 2022
Free State	Lejweleputswa, Thabo Mofutsanyana, Mangaung, Fezile Dabi, Xhariep	S556, S570, S118, S571, P8/1	24-24 March 2022
Mpumalanga	Nkangala, Bohlabela, Gert Sibande, Ehlanzeni	D1175, D957, D2685, D1604, D2950, D1604, P77/2	29-31 March 2022
North West	Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Ngaka Modri Molema, Bojanala, Dr Kennet Kaunda	D141, P34/2, P48/1, D171, D970	5-6 April 2022
Limpopo	Capricon, Sekhukhune Waterberg, Vhembe, Mopani	D3830, D3749, D3653	9-11 April 2022

Table 2: Details of Inspections and Assessments

In the case of the National Route R61 at Tsomo junction between Ngcobo and Cofimvaba in the Chris Hani District Municipality, the repairs were completed by SANRAL and this road officially opened to motorists on the 28 February 2022.

In case of provincial and municipal roads, the implementation of emergency repairs works was activated by the various road authorities to the affected road infrastructure that falls within their respective areas of jurisdiction.

It must be noted that:

• In terms of the Disaster Management Act No 57 of 2002, when a disaster occurs:
  • the cost of repairing or replacing public sector infrastructure should be borne by the organ of state responsible for the maintenance of such infrastructure.
  • any financial assistance provided by a national, provincial or municipal organ of state must be in accordance with the national disaster management framework and any applicable post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation policy of the relevant sphere of government
• as storms continue to cause floods in some areas, the road authorities continues to assess and intervene by repairing damages to restore access, including temporary bypasses and alternative routing for continued access to basic amenities and socio-economic facilities.
• the reconstruction and rehabilitation to infrastructure damaged by floods, including road infrastructure will depend on the approval of budget reprioritisation and allocation of additional funds by the NDMC and National Treasury;
• National Government shall assist provinces through the Provincial Road Maintenance Grant (PRMG) and municipalities through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), as allowable with the provisions of these grant frameworks in terms of the Divisional of Revenue Act (DORA);
• discussions are taking place at the Inter-Governmental Committee on Disaster Management (ICDM) and the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC)’s Disaster Operations Centre (DOC) remains activated to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of focused intervention and response measures including the monitoring and reporting of summer-related incidents and declared disasters;
• The Department shall comply with any policy changes approved by ICDM.