Cyclone Idai, a tropical cyclone that hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, is not a natural disaster but a direct consequence of the white, Western system of ecological assault for profits, Black First Land First (BLF) said in a statement on Friday.

"BLF holds that the destroyers of the ecological balance, through Greenhouse gas emissions, must pay for the catastrophe that is caused by their gluttonous cultures and civilisation of death.

"The multitudes that died as a result of the cyclone are not victims of a natural disaster. This is mass murder which could be prevented if the West abandoned its ways," the statement read.

On Monday, Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi said more than 1 000 people may have by killed in the aftermath of the cyclone, which has been described as the worst in more than 20 years, News24 reported.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told Parliament on Wednesday that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is and was "completely unprepared" for Cyclone Idai and other natural disaster events of this magnitude.

BLF, however, blamed the Western world for the disaster that has had a far-reaching and disastrous effect on the region.

The West pollutes and the West must pay

"Those who pollute and destroy our ecosystems must pay ecological reparations to those who suffer as a consequence of their irresponsible actions. It's no longer speculation - even the white man's own science corroborates what we blacks know: Africa is paying a heavy price for the actions of the white world. The West pollutes and the West must pay.

"Part of driving their conspiracy of recolonisation is to profit from disasters. The West has no incentive to stop destroying our planet. The West knows only one value and that is to make profits. If the West is not stopped soon, then we should prepare for the extinction of our species," BLF said.

BLF called on the African Union (AU) to demand reparations and relief from the European Union (EU) and the US for Cyclone Idai.

"Africa is tired of carrying the burden of the destructive behaviour of the global white system of power and consumption," the statement read.

On Friday, BBC reported that rescue workers were continuing the search for survivors of Cyclone Idai, which destroyed towns and villages in its path.

"Hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have been affected by what the UN says could be 'one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit the southern hemisphere'," its report stated.