KwaZulu-Natal families who have still not recovered the bodies of their family members following last year’s floods in April say they are struggling to accept the situation.
Over 400 people died in the floods.
At least 71 people are still missing.
Andisiwe Ngaleka from Inanda in Durban lost four of her family members when their brick house collapsed.
Their bodies have never been found.
File: Devastation of April 2022 floods:
Ngaleka says it’s even more difficult grieving the loss of loved ones when there is no body to bury.
“We never found any of my four family members, I lost my mother, my child, my sister’s baby and my brother they were all taken by floods. We have never received any help from government since the incident, we have not found their remains, even today we do not have a proper home, I am currently living in a tent in Inanda. I still believe that my family is somehow buried underneath this rubble, we never got the assistance of an excavator to dig around here, my life is a mess. I have accepted my loved ones have died but I still long to at least find their remains, if it rains, I weep thinking about them where they are and I still hear my child crying.”
Ngaleka says a year later she is struggling to secure death certificates for the missing family members.
“I wish that at least we are given their death certificates because at the moment as a family we cannot make any claims. We also need a safe home right now, I don’t live with my two kids since I am living in a tent. It is difficult to fetch my children to subject them into the worst living conditions I am currently faced with, my worst fear is that if there are heavy rains again, we might be swept away as well.”
