By Simon Nare
The government has cautioned homeowners against building their houses on flood lines to avoid them from being swept away by raging currents during flooding or demolished by the state.
In a post-Cabinet meeting briefing in Cape Town on Thursday, Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the executive had reflected on the recent flooding, including in the Eastern Cape, where 78 people have died so far.
During the devastating floods, pictures of submerged houses built in low-lying areas were splashed across social media, with some raising concerns about how municipalities had approved such structures.
Ntshavheni said the government had consistently over the years warned people not to build their houses in areas that were not been approved by municipal engineers.
She cited the repeated warnings to people who lived along the Jukskei River in Johannesburg who defiantly resisted being moved from the area even though many died every year when it flooded.
The minister said there were instances where people had built “mansions” on flood lines.
“Even when you remove them, they continue to go back. We hope South Africans will understand and not say we are victimising poor people and so forth when we have to demolish structures that are placed through flood lines, when we have to remove people who are building in particular in the informal settlement… But, also government remains committed to accelerating of proper housing structures through the National Home Building Registration Council (NHBRC),” she said.
Ntshavheni encouraged homeowners to ensure that the contractors they hired to build their houses were registered with the NHBRC so that the council’s inspectors could verify the quality of their houses and if they could withstand harsh weather conditions.
Ntshavheni said Cabinet also discussed the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant known as Nimbus or NB1.8.1 associated with a rise in cases in certain regions of Asia. The Health Department was closely monitoring the situation.
She called on citizens to take precautions such as avoiding unnecessary handshaking, washing their hands with soap, covering their mouths when coughing and using a mask when they had flu.
“We demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic that through these simple measures we can reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses,” she said.
On the economy, Ntshavheni said the Cabinet noted the gross domestic product figures that recorded the economic growth by 0.1% in the first quarter of the year as released by Statistic South Africa.
“Cabinet remains concerned about the decline in the manufacturing industry, more so when government has prioritised boosting local manufacturing and thus awaits the finalization of the revised industrial policy,” she said.
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