Dozens of families from about six villages in Nkomazi, east of Mbombela in Mpumalanga, have been left homeless following a heavy storm that ripped the roofs off some of the houses. Several people suffered injuries and were taken to hospital.
Roads have also been damaged in the area. The affected families are now picking up the pieces. Some have lost almost everything and are now homeless.
In Masibekela, south-east of Mbombela, about 58 houses are affected.
Maria Ndlovu lives with her unemployed husband and seven children.
The children have lost their school uniforms and stationery.
Ndlovu says they have no place to sleep. She is pleading for assistance.
“We ran and took cover at that small room, everything is damaged, we don’t even have food, we have no blankets and beds, we are asking for help as no one is employed in this family, we are dependent on the children’s support grant.”
Another victim of the storm, Khethiwe Ngomane, says the roof on her family house was also blown away.
“They are now trying to put back the roofing, we checked the electric appliances, some are working except for the stove.”
The spokesperson for the Nkomazi Local Municipality, Cyril Ripinga, says they are still assessing the extent of the damage caused by the storm. He says other departments have been roped in to provide the necessary support.
” We are still going on moving from one village to the other trying to see how best we can help these families. At the moment we cannot say how many houses are badly affected in the entire municipality up until we are done with our assessment, but as an interim intervention we must provide shelter as the municipality because we have seen that there are those who have lost their houses and have nowhere to go to.”
Early last year, another heavy storm wreaked havoc in Nkomazi. The disaster management team for the Nkomazi Local Municipality remains on full alert.
