South African Chinese embassy donates Flood Relief funds

The Chinese embassy in South Africa has donated a million rand ($66,000; £50,000) toward flood relief effort but some South Africans have been complaining about how meagre the amount is.

Chinese ambassador Chen Xiadong said the donation was part of its efforts to support South African people affected by the disaster in KwaZulu-Natal province.

One social media user however said the amount “was a joke when billions of rands are needed to rebuild everything”.

Another compared the Chinese donation to a bigger amount offered by a wealthy South African businessman.

“One million rand from China? When even Patrick Motsepe donated 30 million as an individual but a country that is rich, I mean they are the second richest country in the world but they donate a million.”

On Tuesday the African Union announced a $150,000 donation from its emergency fund to support the relief efforts.

More than 450 people have died in the devastating floods, infrastructure has been destroyed in several parts of the province and the government has declared a nation-wide state of disaster.

BBC/Christopher Ojilere