R472Million in Disaster funding remained unspent as Eastern Cape approaches High-Risk Summer

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BY: CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS | ONLINE EDITOR

R472 million in disaster funding remained unspent as Eastern Cape approaches high-risk summer     The Democratic Alliance will request that the Eastern Cape Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs convene a joint briefing by COGTA and Provincial Treasury on the spending of disaster relief and recovery funding across the province. The departments must present a municipality-by-municipality recovery plan setting out the reasons for every outstanding balance, the projects affected, revised completion dates, interventions already undertaken, and the consequences imposed where municipalities have failed to comply. This follows a response to a parliamentary question submitted by the DA, which revealed that R472.4 million of the R3.147 billion allocated for disaster relief and recovery since 2023 remained unspent as of July 2026. COGTA identified 11 municipalities as currently underspending their disaster grants. Among the most concerning cases is Makana, which had spent just R5.78 million of a R29.11 million allocation, leaving R23.33 million unspent. Separate Buffalo City allocations carried unspent balances of R23.86 million and R8.53 million, while Enoch Mgijima had R9.31 million unspent. Two Nelson Mandela Bay allocations reflected outstanding balances of R9.13 million and R3.35 million respectively. Disaster funding is intended to repair damaged roads, bridges, stormwater systems, water infrastructure, and other essential services on which vulnerable communities depend. COGTA claims that no compliant municipal application has been delayed at the provincial level since 2023. It also points to monthly monitoring meetings, site visits, and engagements with underspending municipalities. However, the response does not disclose how many cases of non-compliance have been escalated, what interventions followed, or whether those interventions improved delivery. The timing is particularly concerning. Parts of the Eastern Cape are currently experiencing disruptive rain and the risk of localised flooding. At the same time, strengthening El Niño conditions are expected to bring hotter and potentially drier conditions to southern Africa over the coming summer, increasing the risk of drought, water stress, heatwaves, and veld fires. The Eastern Cape is a disaster-prone province. It must be prepared for floods, droughts, fires, and severe storms, rather than scrambling to respond after lives, homes, and infrastructure have already been lost. Despite this, the province’s separate disaster funding framework is still being developed and is only expected to be finalised before the end of the 2026/27 financial year. This means it could arrive after the province has passed through much of the coming high-risk summer. The DA’s 2026 Local Government Election Manifesto commits DA-led municipalities to building resilience into municipal planning by factoring climate risks and maintenance backlogs into long-term decisions. This requires competent officials, data-driven planning, transparent expenditure, and real consequences when public money is not converted into delivery. The Eastern Cape cannot afford disaster management that exists mainly in frameworks, protocols, and meetings. Disaster funding must translate into completed projects, stronger infrastructure, and better-protected communities before the next emergency strikes.

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