A preliminary assessment of weather damage after recent storms across the Western Cape shows costs exceeding R9 billion.
Recent storms brought heavy rain and strong winds to the province, causing loss of life, widespread flooding, and significant damage to homes and infrastructure.
Informal settlements and low-lying areas were hardest hit, with thousands of residents displaced as emergency teams responded to the destruction.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said that the cost of damage from last month’s severe weather systems, which swept through the province, was now estimated at just over R9 billion.
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The preliminary figures were presented during a special provincial cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday.
Winde said the agriculture sector was hit the hardest, with losses exceeding R5.2 billion, while damage to transport infrastructure was approaching R2 billion.
Winde’s spokesperson, Regan Thaw, said: “The scale of the damage exceeds provincial departments’ budgets and delivery capacity. Additional funding will have to be sought from national government.”
Thaw said the preliminary figures were still unverified.
Carlo Petersen
www.ewn.co.za