Govt to coordinate tsunami relief

The South African government has set up an interministerial committee, assisted by a task team of senior officials, to coordinate relief efforts for countries affected by last week’s tsunami disaster.

Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, who heads the committee, urged individuals and organisations wishing to contribute to channel their donations to a central point.

This will enable the committee, having identified the areas of most critical need, to distribute the donations in the most effective way possible.

“We are not likely to make the impact required if we donate in a disparate manner,” he told reporters in Pretoria.

Those wishing to make financial contributions should do so to a Red Cross fund set up specifically to aid tsunami-stricken countries.

The account, number 405 259 8774, is based at Absa’s Heerengracht branch, Cape Town. “Asia appeal” should be used as a deposit reference.

Those able to make contributions of items such as blankets, clothes, water-purification tablets and medical supplies should contact the government’s natural disaster management centre at Tel: (012) 334 0853.

Several organisations have already established relief funds, but Mufamadi said coordination is required “to maximise the impact of the assistance we will be giving”.

He called on non-governmental bodies and the private sector to designate representatives to participate in the activities of the interdepartmental task team.

It comprises officials from the departments of provincial and local government, foreign affairs, health, water affairs and social development. The ministers responsible for these departments sit on the interministerial committee.

The death toll in the earthquake-induced tsunami disaster in south-east Asia was nearing 150 000 by Monday — including thousands of foreign tourists. The giant waves also hit several East African countries.

South Africa has to date received requests for assistance from Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand, Mufamadi said.

Delegation to donor conference

South Africa will send a delegation to an international donor conference to be held in Indonesia on Thursday to determine the affected countries’ most pressing needs in a bid to focus South Africa’s relief efforts.

The South African team will be led by Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica.

The recipients of South African assistance and the timing of the delivery thereof will depend on the outcome of Thursday’s deliberations, Mufamadi said.

“[Before we send anything] we need to know there is a receiving structure,” he said. “The timing will be determined by the ability of the other side to receive our help.”

Mufamadi said several South African doctors and engineers have offered their help, but their involvement also needs to be properly planned.

“We are talking about countries that have been devastated and are still collecting debris. We cannot just send people who might stand in the way of the execution of the first logical step [of mopping up].”

The government will hold discussions with airlines such as South African Airways and the South African National Defence Force to put in place mechanisms for the transportation of donations, Mufamadi said.

Thursday’s conference will also inform South Africa’s involvement in long-term reconstruction and development efforts in affected countries, led by organisations such as the United Nations, he added.

Mufamadi said no requests for help have been received from Africa, but this will nevertheless be considered.

“One doesn’t wait for a neighbour whose house is on fire to request help,” he said.

South Africa ‘virtually silent’ on tsunami

Earlier on Monday, official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said that apart from a crisis centre at the Department of Foreign Affairs, there has been “very little concern and involvement by President Thabo Mbeki’s government in helping to relieve the suffering of those affected by the Asian tsunami”.

Gibson said in a statement that commentators are noting that a year ago, Mbeki was so concerned about Haiti and its president Jean-Bertrande Aristide — later ousted from office — that he donated R10-million for him to squander on a huge party.

Mbeki then spent a further R15-million on a warship, a helicopter and police personnel during his visit to that country.

This year, there has been virtual silence and very little concern shown for a far greater human crisis that has gravely affected “our own continent”.

“The DA therefore calls on the president to deal with the tsunami disaster by showing at least as much concern about these victims as he did about the Haitian political situation.

“As the world looks east to offer disaster relief to the victims of the tsunami, the South African Interministerial Task Team on Disaster Management should heed the warnings of the United Nations and not forget about the devastation that has been wrought in the horn of Africa.

“Villages have been devastated in Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and the Seychelles, and at least 200 people have been killed and 50 000 displaced in Somalia alone. There have also been reports of widespread cholera outbreaks in the region.

“The DA proposes that government set up a fund for relief efforts in this region, and pledges to donate R10 000 collected by its caucus toward such a fund, as the party feels this is where a substantial portion of South Africa’s efforts should be directed.”

More than 1 000 unaccounted for

A total of 1 137 South Africans are still unaccounted for after last week’s tsunami disaster in south-east Asia — about 16 of whom are feared dead, the government said on Monday.

Those listed as unaccounted for are thought to have been in the area at the time but have not been in contact with anybody since the event, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria.

This does not necessarily mean they are missing.

Pahad said about 16 South Africans who are believed to have been in the path of the tsunamis in Indonesia and Thailand are feared dead. Family members or friends who were with them at the time have been unable to trace them.

There is still no information about two South Africans confirmed dead earlier in the day. Their deaths brought the number of confirmed South African victims to seven.

Pahad said 1 820 South Africans who were in south-east Asia when the tsunamis struck have been located.

He urged others who have not yet contacted their families or their local missions to do so urgently.

An operations centre has been set up in Pretoria, coordinated by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

It had also been decided to put the police’s forensic science laboratory to the government’s disposal for the identification of possible South African victims.

Pahad said South African embassies abroad are heavily involved in attempts to find the missing nationals, and senior officials have been sent from South Africa to reinforce them.

Toll passes 144 000

The number of people killed in the massive earthquake and tsunamis that hit Indian Ocean shorelines a week ago reached 145 161 on Monday.

Indonesia has borne the brunt of the December 26 catastrophe, with a Health Ministry official putting the country’s dead at 94 081. Entire coastal villages disappeared under the wall of water.

The figure could rise substantially. The Health Ministry has cautioned that there could be 100 000 deaths in Aceh and North Sumatra.

In Sri Lanka, 30 196 were confirmed killed by the tidal waves, while a further 3 792 were listed as missing, the president’s office said.

The official toll in India stood at 15 275, comprising 9 479 confirmed fatalities and a further 5 796 who are missing, many of them presumed dead, the government said on Monday. — Sapa, Sapa-AFP, I-Net Bridge

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