As the Eastern Cape buries its dead after last week’s storms, which claimed almost 100 lives, KwaZulu-Natal flood victims are still waiting for the help promised to them more than three years ago.
In April 2022, after devastating floods killed 448 people and displaced thousands across the province, President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged R1bn in emergency relief. Today, some survivors continue to live in community halls, tents and backyard shelters — while most of the relief funds remain untouched.
In Molweni, west of Durban, 45-year-old Makhosi Mdluli returned from an overcrowded emergency shelter to the land where her home once stood. Using salvaged material, she built a makeshift structure for herself and her children.
“There are holes in the roof and walls, but at least it’s ours,” she said. “They came here with microphones. We’re still waiting for help.”
Now, as national attention shifts to the Eastern Cape and its newly pledged recovery funds, KwaZulu-Natal’s forgotten survivors watch with weary familiarity.
We have been waiting and waiting. The councillor said there is no money to rebuild our homes, but we hear on the news that the money was allocated. Now we don’t know whether those funds went into officials’ pockets.
— Flood survivor, speaking on condition of anonymity
According to presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, the relief pledged to KwaZulu-Natal was not new money. It came from existing budgets — redirected via reprioritisation and conditional grants.
“When the president announces funds to aid disaster recovery, those funds come from the province’s reprioritisation of its spending commitments,” Magwenya said on Friday. “National Treasury, in recognition of the disaster, will then approve the reallocation.”
But Magwenya admitted that reallocation, in many cases, has not translated into delivery.
According to the Presidency’s own figures, of the R326m allocated under the KwaZulu-Natal emergency housing grant, R140m was transferred — and by August 2022, an amount of R55.4m had been spent. Another R145m in the provincial disaster response grant was never disbursed — because the province failed to apply.
In total, less than 10% of the promised R1bn appears to have reached the affected communities.
In eThekwini, more than R460m was reprioritised from housing and infrastructure grants to rebuild flood-damaged areas and rehouse displaced residents. But the Treasury confirms there has been “little to no expenditure” of these funds, citing implementation delays and late approvals.
Some municipal attempts to build housing for affected families were met with community resistance. In Shallcross, legal objections brought construction to a halt. In Illovo, resident protests delayed progress on transitional housing.
eThekwini officials did not respond to queries on the status of these projects.
Meanwhile, the financial fallout from the April 2022 floods continues to reverberate in the courts.
Toyota’s insurer — Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance — has launched a R6.5bn lawsuit against the eThekwini municipality, Transnet and KwaZulu-Natal’s transport department.
The Japanese insurer alleges that these entities failed to maintain critical flood-control infrastructure — including the Umlaas canal and stormwater systems — around Toyota’s Prospecton manufacturing plant, resulting in catastrophic damage when floodwaters engulfed the facility.
The insurer claims Toyota suffered more than R4.5bn in physical damage and R2bn in business losses after its operations shut down for four months.
The lawsuit, filed in the Durban high court this week, accuses the authorities of gross negligence — and could set a legal precedent by testing the liability of public entities during natural disasters.
Though Toyota itself is not suing, the case underscores how global corporations have struggled to recover from the province’s deadliest storm in a century — while thousands of ordinary residents, with no legal teams or insurance cover, remain in shelters waiting for help that never came.
Oteng Makgotlwa of Corruption Watch told the Sunday Times on Friday that their attempt to seek information on the KwaZulu-Natal flood relief money from various government officials had drawn a blank.
“We are still not aware what happened to those funds, whether they were allocated or not,” she said.
KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Francois Rodgers declined to comment, saying the matter arose before his appointment at the time the government of provincial unity was formed in June last year.
His spokesperson, Nkosikhona Duma, said: “I have spoken to the MEC about this and he says it all happened before his time as MEC. He does not wish to comment.”
KwaZulu-Natal co-operative governance & traditional affairs spokesperson Senzelwe Mzila acknowledged receiving a media query, but did not respond.
For many families across KwaZulu-Natal, the wait continues — without clarity, without homes, without closure.
A flood survivor from Mariannhill, who lost three relatives when their house was destroyed, said their suffering had been ignored.
“We have been waiting and waiting. The councillor said there is no money to rebuild our homes, but we hear on the news that the money was allocated,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Now we don’t know whether those funds went into officials’ pockets.”
He added: “We don’t want sympathy. We want roofs. We want dignity restored.”
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