Johannesburg - The Limpopo government has pledged millions of rand to rebuild damaged houses in the aftermath of devastating thunderstorms that struck the province at the weekend.
The weekend storms were the second in as many weeks, which have left a trail of destruction in the province.
A severe storm hit Mopani and Vhembe at weekend, and damaged more than 600 homes and properties. The storm left many houses without roofs.
Given the scale of the devastation the provincial government has made a commitment to assist affected people.
Local disaster management said priority will be given to those who are struggling to rebuild.
Provincial Disaster Management spokesperson Motupa Selomo said on Monday that the disaster management team was compiling a list of those who requires urgent intervention.
MEC for Housing Makoma Makhurupetje said the process will start with building of 2500 RDP houses.
She said the beneficiaries of the emergency aid will includes those whose substandard houses collapsed due to heavy rains and thunderstorm in the past five years.
Makhurupetje said the targeted beneficiaries increased due to the weekend storms.
The storms left residents in Vhembe and Mopani exposed to the elements after strong winds battered the villages.
This in addition to the initial devastation after storms hit Mopani, Sekhukhune and Capricorn a week ago, which left many stranded without roofs over their heads and food.
While some residents were restoring their roofs, with broken materials, others were left with absolutely nothing.
“We are going to build 414 houses… two contractors have already been appointed. We are just finalising the beneficiary priority list,” said Makhurupetje.
She said her department has been given R34 million to build and repair houses damaged by the storms.
According to department’s records there are disaster victims dating back as far as 2010.
A team of project managers has been dispatched across the province to determine the necessary interventions.
Preliminary investigations on “November 2015 Storm” reveals that orphans and a blind pensioner were also left homeless.
“If the house collapsed because of poor quality, we will call back the contractor to come and fix it, but if it was because of natural disaster, therefore the department will rebuild,” she said.
The department said it has also been allocated additional R29 million to rebuild houses destroyed by the storms.
African News Agency
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