Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Sipho Hlomuka travelled to Gauteng to honour their search and rescue teams that took part in floods relief efforts in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Tuesday Hlomuka honoured the brave men and women from the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre who took part in the rescue and recovery efforts following the floods in April.
Hlomuka handed over certificates and medals to the brave men and women during a ceremony that took place at the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre in Midrand.
The MEC said the ceremony was part of the benchmark visit where officials from KZN interacted with their counterparts in Gauteng on best practices and strategic issues of common interest.
Through the visit the department officials gained valuable insights from their Gauteng counterparts and also shared their own experiences.
“The brave men and women who came to our province to help out following the floods are truly heroes,” Hlomuka said.
“They risked their lives and contributed significantly to the relief efforts,” he said, adding that the role played by Gauteng must be appreciated.
“We came here to say thank you for what you have done for the province, you were not just doing it for yourselves but you were doing it for the people of South Africa.
“We must appreciate the role you have played as we suffered during heavy rain in April. We have lost almost 400 lives but we have rescued a number of lives,” he said.
Hlomuka said they would be visiting other provinces to roll out this programme of honouring the teams that were deployed to KZN.
Daily News