The families had their were damaged by recent floods in the Eastern Cape province. By Friday afternoon, 79 people had been confirmed to have died and scores others displaced following the heavy rains that hit the province this week, with government criticising the affected communities for putting their lives at risk by building houses on the riverbanks. 

Most houses submerged in water following the heavy rains that caused floods in the towns of Mthata and Butterworth. Magimisha-Tshipungu says authorities must consider a number of factors before making any decisions.

“If then we find that the area is at the point where we cannot resuscitate it, and we cannot build on it, we cannot afford to build on that particular piece of land. People need to be relocated, but we also need to come up with a sound relocation strategy. Where are you going to put them? Do you have a better way out or what is the cost implications? Do you have the resources? And are you not going to disturb their livelihood? Because very often people in SA relocate themselves following economic activities of some sort,” Magimisha-Tshipungu said.

--SABC--