South Africa ‘virtually silent’ on tsunami

South African official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said on Monday 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.

Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, who heads a ministerial committee set up to coordinate assistance to people and countries affected by the disaster, said the government is doing all it could to assist South African families find their loved ones.

An operations centre has been set up in Pretoria to that end, 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 tidal waves that hit Indian Ocean shorelines a week ago passed 144 000 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, 29 957 were confirmed killed by the tidal waves, while a further 5 740 were listed as missing, the president’s office said.

The official toll in India stood at 15 275, comprising 9 749 confirmed fatalities and a further 5 796 who are missing, many of them presumed dead, the government said on Monday.

In Thailand, Interior Ministry figures put the death toll at 5 046 — 2 459 foreigners, 2 287 Thais and 300 whose race could not be established.

It said 3 810 are missing, eight days after the waves hit resorts and fishing villages in six provinces along the Andaman Sea coast. Officials say most of these are presumed dead.

In Myanmar, at least 90 people were killed, according to the United Nations, but the real toll is expected to be far higher.

At least 75 people were killed and another 42 were confirmed missing in the tourist paradise of the Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said.

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, police said.

In Bangladesh, a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized in large waves, officials said.

Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 176 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra measured 9,0 on the Richter scale — making it the largest quake worldwide in four decades. — Sapa, Sapa-AFP, I-Net Bridge

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