King MisuZulu KaZwelithini shocked at the extent of the damage cause by floods

AmaZulu King MisuZulu KaZwelithini has expressed shock at the extent of the damage caused by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal.

The king and mining billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe, together with KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, visited the area of Tshelimnyama, west of Durban.

The AmaZulu King says the pain caused by the storms is devastating.

“We are all shocked by the storms. We are in pain. As we speak, there are still missing people. These rains showed us that it has damaged a lot of infrastructure, even businesses have been affected. However, I am happy that Motsepe Foundation has come on board to help us. It is not the first time the foundation reaching out to us.”

Motsepe has donated R30 million to assist families affected by the recent floods.

“We came here today to make a humble donation of R30 million from the Motsepe Foundation to help our people and there was a meeting that took place earlier and after that we visited many places in the province and you can see that many of our people are suffering because of the way the flood has impacted and affected their lives.”

More than 390 people have lost their lives in the province so far with more rain expected over the weekend. Thousands more have been displaced after their homes were washed away by torrential downpours.

The Department of Human Settlements says around 4 000 homes have been completely destroyed by the floods in KZN, with Tshelimnyama having been one of the areas most affected.

The South African Weather Service has warned that above-average rainfall is expected to hit KZN throughout this weekend.

KZN Floods I Assessment of the damage caused by the heavy rain and flooding: