ActionSA has indicated that it will write to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to ask that a provincial state of disaster be declared, following recent floods in the province.
Throughout 2022, rampant theft of cables and essential infrastructure amounted to economic sabotage of South Africa’s future growth prospects, threatening investment, employment security, livelihoods and community safety- leading to calls for the declaration of the state of disaster in South Africa.
A fierce storm ravaged parts of Joburg last week leaving thousands of homes submerged in water, roads and electricity infrastructure were also damaged, leaving most parts in the City without power.
Joburg mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse has already approached Eskom requesting that the City be exempted from load shedding while it recovers from the battering it has taken during the ensuing floods.
ActionSA’s Gauteng provincial chairperson Bongani Baloyi said there is sufficient precedent for Joburg to be spared the power cuts, as eThekwini was exempted from load shedding after the floods the metro experienced in April, this year.
“We implore the Gauteng government to with haste and not wait for eight months and court filings to be made in order to act as was the case in KwaZulu-Natal.
“While we appreciate that the flooding could not be avoided, we equally are mindful that these rains fell on poorly maintained infrastructure, most notably stormwater-drainage systems. Of equal concern are human settlements that are irrationally built or left to mushroom on floodplains that are most affected by torrential rains,” Baloyi said.
The Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Business Chamber has sent a formal request to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to take drastic steps to protect public assets that are essential to service delivery and supporting investment and job creation.
“We do not advocate for such a step lightly, especially given that the country has only recently emerged from two years of successive states of disaster imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“However, a state of disaster of this nature should not affect the daily lives and movement of the general public, as it would be specifically targeted at protecting infrastructure and monitoring, tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes,” said NMB Business CEO Denise van Huyssteen.
Source: IOL, Business Tech, Image from Twitter: @Action4SA