Date: 2025-03-04 09:13:26
Statement by eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Cllr Cyril Xaba on the recent storm disaster
ETHEKWINI NEWSFLASH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3 MARCH 2025
STATEMENT BY ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY MAYOR, CLLR CYRIL XABA ON THE RECENT STORM DISASTER
EThekwini Municipality has, over the last 8-10 years, experienced recurring heavy floods.
These catastrophic events have not only destroyed the city’s infrastructure but have also resulted in the loss of life.
It is important to indicate that flooding during heavy rains is related mainly to the size of the storm event and the capacity of the stormwater systems as well as the nature of the debris carried by the stormwater into the stormwater systems.
It is for this that we are constantly pleading with both residents and businesses to dispose of waste in designated areas.
Furthermore, in eThekwini Municipality, the stormwater systems are designed to cope with a one in 10-year storm event flow at critical points.
The 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023 floods were greater than the 1:100-year flood in certain parts of the city.
In other areas, the flooding events in 2024 and early 2025 have also exceeded 1:20 to 1:40 years, meaning that the frequency and intensity of the floods has become unpredictable.
Therefore, the recurring floods need to be scrutinised against the existing capacity of infrastructure built in terms of the required level of service to understand the risk related to exceedance of the built capacity.
Given the increasing frequency and magnitude of such catastrophic events caused by flooding in the eThekwini area, the city has embarked on many initiatives to reduce the risk of flooding and its impact on people’s lives and infrastructure.
It is recognised worldwide that cities cannot afford to construct infrastructure to cope with every eventuality related to flooding, and therefore, other measures, such as the Early Warning System and risk mitigation need to be instituted.
For this reason, our new designs are now taking into consideration the effects of Climate Change.
These designs standards are benchmarked with international best practices.
It should be noted that high-intensity or short-duration storm events result in ponding at low points, which dissipates thereafter.
Some of the proactive initiatives the City is implementing to reduce flooding risks include the following:
• The Sihlanzimvelo pilot programme where we maintain approximately 500km of streams in high risk areas.
• Revising the flood lines to incorporate the projected climate impact of a 15% increase in rainfall intensity.
We are confident that these interventions will further climate proof new development in the city.
Technical teams are currently being appointed to conduct a detailed assessment to identify possible solutions to government-developed properties already built in the 1:100 flood line.
The assessment will enable the city to produce stormwater management plans for the high-risk areas.
This will also ensure that development in the City is done in a safe and sustainable way with regards to rainfall and the associated stormwater, thereby bringing the city into line with global best practices.
With regards to the recent floods our disaster management teams are on the ground assessing the full impact and financial implications of the flood damage.
Affected families are relocated to mass care centres while we attend to long-term solutions.
It is unfortunate that while the city is doing its best to restore basic services to affected communities, some of our workers are being attacked.
This affects service delivery as workers are now fearing for their lives.
We strongly condemn this criminal behaviour and we call upon members of the community to work with us as we are trying to restore basic services such as water and electricity.
ENDS
Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Communication Unit. For more information, kindly contact Mayoral Spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa on 060 974 1140.
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