A desperate Durban family says they have gone to many of the mortuaries in the metro in search of their seven relatives who are still missing since the floods more than two weeks ago but have been met with little success.
The body of an eighth member of the Hlophe family from the KwaCutshwayo near Mariannhill has, however, been found.
Snenhlanhla Hlophe, who lost her one-year-old baby, says they have gone to many of the local mortuaries in search for their missing relatives.
She says at some mortuaries officials tell them they need to be accompanied by investigators.
Hlophe says they will not get closure until they find and bury their family members.
Desperate Durban family visits mortuaries in search of missing loved ones:
Meanwhile the National Lottery operator, Ithuba, said it has availed R10 million towards relief efforts for KwaZulu-Natal flood victims.
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Nomalungelo Gina and Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza handed over aid to about 90 families living in a church in Molweni outside Pinetown, west of Durban.
“As Ithuba, we set aside a relief fund of R10 million, which we are going around just like in this community and distributing things that they need like blankets (and) food. I fully understand how the skepticism about corruption going on, but in this case, the money is handled by ourselves directly. We are the ones that are going with our own staff purchasing, making sure that because we did not want to go third hand. We want to make sure the communities benefit the value for money in totality,” says Mabuza.
Ithuba said it hopes the relief fund will take care of the victims’ immediate basic needs.
