President Cyril Ramaphosa has postponed a working visit to Saudi Arabia to focus on his government’s intervention in the KwaZulu-Natal flood disaster, his office said on Saturday.
According to the Presidency, the South African government has communicated the postponement to the Saudi Arabian authorities.
“The postponement allows the president to continue to meet with ministers on the situation in the flood-ravaged province and to assess how the different spheres of government, in partnership with civil society organisations and communities, are addressing the crisis,” it said.
The government has declared a provincial state of disaster following the flooding, which has resulted in the loss of about 400 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and other infrastructure in the port city of Durban and surrounding areas.
Ramaphosa is quoted as saying the devastation caused by the floods calls for “all hands on deck”, hence the need to cancel the visit to Saudi Arabia.
“As government, we are standing by the people of KwaZulu-Natal through the provision of social and material support to thousands of households and a vast number of businesses that have been affected by this catastrophe,” the president said.
The South African leader was due to travel to Saudi Arabia on April 19.
