SOUTH Africa’s deployment of 10 000 soldiers to help with relief efforts in the two provinces hit by devastating floods last month will cost more than $30 million.
South African National Defence Force members will work in KwaZulu-Natal, where more than 400 people died and landslides damaged roads and ports and washed away houses, and in the Eastern Cape until June 14, according to a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa to parliament. The cost is expected to be R506.4 million.
The government declared a national state of disaster after the heaviest rain in decades triggered the floods. They have caused “billions of rands” of damage, Ramaphosa said last month.
The government has allocated R1 billion for repairs and will seek lawmakers’ approval for additional funds, he said.
BLOOMBERG
