South Africa’s Socialist Government Blamed for Scale of Flood Disaster

This aerial view shows the destruction at Umdloti beach north of Durban, on April 14, 2022. - Victims of South Africa's deadliest storm on record scrambled to get help on April 14, 2022 as relief teams struggled to cross bridges and roads wrecked by floods and landslides. At least 341 people died when the heaviest rainfall in six decades swept away homes and destroyed infrastructure in the city of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal province. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP) Photo by MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images

As floodwaters recede in South Africa to reveal hundreds of bodies and the remnants of lost lives, a picture is emerging of how mismanagement and corruption by the nation’s socialist government contributed to the gravity and depth of one of the nation’s worst natural disasters.

A storm erupted over eastern KwaZulu-Natal province on April 18, dumping almost three-quarters of the country’s entire annual rainfall on the region’s coastal belt within 24 hours. Rain continued for almost a week, causing extensive flooding and mudslides.