Central SA
Free State receives a share of R1.5 billion to repair damage caused by floods─── ZENANDE MPAME 10:51 Tue, 01 Apr 2025
The Free State is among five provinces receiving a share of R1.4 billion in disaster relief after heavy rains and strong winds caused widespread destruction and loss of life.
The government has officially classified recent weather events as a national disaster under the Disaster Management Act. This classification allows relief efforts to be implemented across affected provinces.
The disasters affected Free State, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces and many families lost loved ones during the disasters.
In the Free State, Masilonyana municipality received 18 million, Dihlabeng municipality received R5 million, and Metsimaholo municipality received R10,5 million. “Through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has for February and March 2025 already disbursed an amount of R1.4 billion,” said minister of Cogta, Velenkosini Hlabisa.
“This money is intended to immediately bring relief and also allow the municipalities to reconstruct the damage of the structures destroyed by the floods in the previous years.”
The money will help repair schools, clinics, and roads and bolster the recovery of impacted communities, he said.
The NDMC under the Department of Cooperative Governance, officially classified the impact of severe weather experienced from Sunday, 16 February, till Friday, 28 February as a National Disaster, in terms of Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002.
The severe weather resulted in loss of life, significant damage to property and infrastructure, and disruptions to basic services. “While we welcome the allocation of funds for this purpose, we recognise that there have been instances where these funds have not been used as intended,” said Hlabisa. “To address this, we have established strict conditions and compliance measures for the use of these grants.”
“These conditions are crafted to ensure the effective and accountable use of funds allocated to municipalities for disaster recovery and response, in accordance with applicable legislation and frameworks.”
The government continues to call on communities in affected areas to remain vigilant and adhere to early warning advisories issued by the South African Weather Service. “A special thank you goes to the South African Weather Service for their vital role in delivering timely and accurate information,” he said.
