Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe has visited the OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape as part of coordinated efforts by the government to offer psychosocial support and social relief packages to the communities adversely affected by the recent floods.
Bukiwe Fanta, the Eastern Cape MEC for social development, and Nomamfengu Siyo-Sokutu, the speaker of the King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality, joined Tolashe.
During the visit, both Tolashe and Fanta extended condolences to the families that have lost their loved ones and wished a speedy recovery to those who are recovering in hospitals and places of safety.
“Sassa [South African Social Security Agency] and Home Affairs are working very closely to ensure that death certificates are released so that the agency can assist the families that will not be able to lay to rest their loved ones with financial assistance,” the department said in a statement on Monday.
About 90 people killed by floods
The minister, MEC, and speaker were accompanied by the Department of Social Development director-general Peter Netshipale, Sassa CEO Themba Matlou, acting CEO of the National Development Agency (NDA) Thabani Buthelezi, Sassa Eastern Cape regional manager Bandile Maqetuka, and NDA provincial manager Nokulunga Skeyi.
Following the events of the past week, where about 90 people lost their lives and thousands were displaced, the social development sector, with its partners, dispatched its personnel to provide assistance to affected people.
Sassa, through its social relief of distress programme, has acted swiftly to assist families whose homes were severely affected during the floods.
To this end, Sassa has been active on three established sites, where people are served three nutritious meals a day, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to immediate food security.
Disengagement plan
In anticipation of the transition phase, Sassa has developed a disengagement plan aimed at equipping beneficiaries with basic resources to support reintegration and restore a sense of stability.
This includes the provision of urgent packs to restore the dignity of the families that have lost everything they had.
The department explained that the activation of the Disaster Management Act has enabled Sassa and its partners, like the Gift of the Givers and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, to provide urgently needed services to the displaced communities.
“The work of the agency has been supervised by the internal audit committee to allow proper accountability at the end of the intervention to avoid and protect the resources of government,” the department said. – SAnews.gov.za
