CAPE TOWN – Residents in various parts of the Western Cape are still picking up the pieces of their lives.
This is after a cut-off low storm system lashed the province last weekend, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
In the Cape metro alone, more than 21,000 people were affected and about 6,900 structures were left damaged.
Officials said assessments at a few informal settlements in Cape Town are still outstanding.
READ MORE:
Residents in other parts of the Cape, like the Breede Valley Municipality, the Cape Winelands and the Overstrand are also continuing with mopping-up operations.
Many have also been cut off, as roads and bridges in these areas either collapsed or were washed away as a result of the heavy rains and flash floods.
Western Cape local government MEC Anton Bredell said it will take another two weeks before they are able to determine the total cost of the storm damage.
“We’ve already sent the necessary documents to the municipalities. They must also help us with the assessment, after which we will then send it to the National Disaster Management Centre to do the classification.”
Bredell said this doesn’t mean that emergency funding will be made available.
The province is also waiting to hear if its request for help from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) engineers to rebuild bridges will be granted by the president.