Government sets record straight on KZN disaster relief funds claims

• Published date: 17 May 2022
• Publication title: South African Official News

Allegations of National Treasury refusing to release disaster relief funds to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government are "mischievous and unwarranted", says government.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Director-General and government spokesperson, Phumla Williams, said the allegations are 'mischievous and unwarranted at a time when government and society are putting in all efforts to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of those affected by the floods'.

The allegations were made by the Democratic Alliance (DA) during a press briefing on Monday.

To put the matter into context, Williams said in instances such as the floods where a disaster had been promulgated, Section 56 of Disaster Management Act caters for the reprioritisation of funds.

She said: 'The reprioritisation of funds is also in line with government's budgeting system. In addressing the recent floods, government embarked on a phased approach, with the first being the immediate humanitarian relief and the second phase, which involves reconstruction and repair.'

Williams said the R1 billion referred to by President Ramaphosa related to funding that was catered for in the 2022 Division of Revenue Bill for immediate response through the Provincial Disaster Response Grant and the Municipal Disaster Response Grant.

The spokesperson said the reprioritisation of funds from budgets was to fund immediate needs.

As such, she said, 'there are no delays on the allocation of funds. However, there is a process that must be followed to unlock these funds'.

'The process includes provinces and...