By Anita Dangazele
- The DA wants the Deputy President to force the Municipality to spend R53 million in flood relief funds before the June deadline.
- The municipality has not used a cent of the funds meant for Kariega’s flood repairs, with delays blamed on bureaucratic red tape.
The DA in the Eastern Cape has called on Deputy President Paul Mashatile to ensure that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMB) spends R53 million on flood relief.
The DA said it wants the allocated Kariega flood relief funds used before the municipal financial year end deadline in June.
The National Treasury transferred flood relief funds on 29 November, but the municipality has yet to use any of it.
This was after Kariega was declared a disaster hit area following flooding.
The money was meant to repair infrastructure damaged by devastating floods in June and October 2024.
If not used by the end of May, the funds will be returned to the National Treasury.
Mashatile will officiate at this year’s official commemorative Human Rights Day event in Kariega, a town where police killed at least 20 people during a 1985 funeral march.
DA MPL Retief Odendaal said the event is being “overshadowed by the harsh reality of broken promises, government inaction, and the ongoing suffering of the 1 June 2024 flood victims.”
“The much-promised disaster relief remains largely unseen, trapped in bureaucratic red tape and procurement failures. The municipality is at risk of losing R53 million in disaster relief funds as not a single contractor has been appointed to begin infrastructure restoration,” he said.
Odendaal accused the government of failing Kariega flood victims. “These poor people will have nothing to celebrate this Human Rights Day,” he said.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe blamed the delay on having to follow the standard procurement process instead of a faster disaster response.
She said some projects are ready to start and added, “We are confident that by the end of April, we should have a tangible mark.”
Pictured above: Deputy President Paul Mashatile, who is set to be the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Day celebrations in Kariega on Friday.
Image source: The Presidency/X
