Govt should have discussed ways to prevent floods in Ladysmith - KZN COGTS MEC

DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi has admitted that the government should have long discussed ways to prevent floods in Ladysmith.

This comes as the rural town continues to be rocked by weather-related disasters.

Sithole-Moloi visited the area on Wednesday to assess the extent of the damage caused by recent flooding.

READ: Disaster prevention measures in Ladysmith to cost over R1bn - KZN COGTA

"Where we can do a short-term intervention, we deal with those and correct them and then we move to medium and long-term solutions of the town. My concern was that we should have talked about what is it that we can do to prevent this from occurring."

Sithole-Moloi told Eyewitness News that there should have long been plans to mitigate these disasters.

After speaking to various community members, she said their concerns about proper infrastructure were genuine.

The MEC said the government had a task to respond to the cries from community members.

"The government that cares, which is the government of the ANC, has a responsibility of ensuring that where people have spoken, we go back and look at the intervention that we can put in place."

Disaster teams are yet to determine the final extent of damage caused as other areas on the KZN north coast are also reported to have been affected.