Responding to the floods in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said: “The floods in Limpopo and Mpumalanga highlight the impact of extreme weather events on people’s rights to life, shelter, water, food and livelihoods. The persistent incidents of severe flooding in many parts of the country underscores the government’s obligation to urgently implement a human-rights based approach to climate change and extreme weather events. It must mobilise all necessary human, financial and technical resources to ensure that disaster risk reduction is fully integrated into urban planning processes, to protect people from the devastating impact of flooding. The failure of the government to adequately and thoroughly realise these obligations comes at a huge cost to the human rights, lives and livelihoods of millions of people.”
“Amnesty International South Africa notes the government’s plan to release relief funding to support communities affected by severe flooding in Limpopo. The relief must be urgently released to those most vulnerable and done with full transparency and accountability.”
Background
Genevieve Quintal, Media and Communications Officer, Amnesty International South Africa: +27 (0)64 890 9224; genevieve.quintal@amnesty.org.za
