An act of God or governance failure?

Toyota's case against eThekwini over flood damage gives us pause for thought: what could be done differently?

- Ask Ash Ash Müller

Everyone remembers April 2022, when torrential rains pummelled KwaZulu-Natal and floodwaters ravaged homes, roads and factories. Lives were lost, families were displaced and infrastructure was destroyed. And although every part of the province bore the weight of that disaster, one story in particular has found its way into court.

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), has a vehicle assembly plant situated in Prospecton, Durban. It had to shut down operations after the factory was submerged during the flooding. The production lines came to a grinding halt. Pictures circulated on social media of thousands of brand-new vehicles drowning at the plant. They were written off before they even had a chance to hit the showroom floor. The damage was extensive, costs were astronomical and timelines for recovery, like so many things in this country, were uncertain.

TSAM’s insurer has now taken the matter to court, not against Toyota, but against eThekwini metropolitan municipality. The company said in court papers that the flooding and subsequent damages were exacerbated by the city’s failure to maintain a key piece of public infrastructure: the Umlaas Canal. The canal was built decades ago to divert the uMlazi River around the industrial zone of Prospecton.

According to court papers, the insurer contends that the canal, which is owned by Transnet but managed and maintained in conjunction with the department of transport and eThekwini municipality, had deteriorated to the point of failure.

They argue that its structural integrity was so compromised that it could not handle the sheer volume of stormwater during the April floods. And that had the infrastructure been properly maintained, the damage would have been far less severe.

Now, whether you agree with that line of reasoning or not, it raises a much bigger question that we should all be asking: when infrastructure fails and the consequences are devastating, who is responsible?