Cape Town — The Western Cape Government revealed that it incurred more than R1.8 billion in flood damages since June 2023, DA MPL and infrastructure spokesperson, Dirk Wessels, said.
Wessels said the figure showed the impact of climate change on the design, construction, and maintenance of the road infrastructure in the province, TimesLIVE reported.
“In light of these challenges, the Department of Infrastructure is mitigating risks by ensuring that new infrastructure is built to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change,” Wessels said.
He added that the flood caused excessive damage in rural areas created unsafe communities and cut off communities from access to essential goods in neighbouring areas.
Wessels said multiple roads across the province’s32 000 km of roads had been closed, which meant a reallocation of resources by the Department of Infrastructure to ensure roads were safe and accessible to the public.
He said roads continued to be affected by the weather and required urgent maintenance and repairs.
ALSO READ | WATCH | Cape Town storm causes infrastructure damage, floods across city
According to IOL, the breakdown of the R1.8 billion is as follows:
– June 2023: R196,697,550
– September 2023: R766,062,500
– October 2023: R59,400,000
– April 2024: R164,310,000
– June 2024: R393,820,000
– July 2024: R223,165,000
Wessels also said the budget cuts across various departments in the Western Cape would also have an impact on transport’s infrastructure and its ability to carry out flood damage repairs.
“The recent flood damage highlights the urgent need for South Africa at large to adapt infrastructure to changing weather patterns,” Wessels said.
“The Democratic Alliance is committed to working together with the Western Cape Government to find practical solutions that will protect our communities and ensure safer travel across the province,” he concluded.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@RestingUser2
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
