Strong winds and heavy rains continue to lash communities in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The South African Weather Service says this is because of two energy systems in that area, the tropical depression from Mozambique cyclone Eloise, and a cold front.
Municipal disaster management teams are on the ground assisting the most vulnerable.
The South African Weather Service says the stormy weather conditions and the cold front is expected to move to Gauteng later this week.
Fifty-year-old Bongani Mbokazi’s modest mud dwelling in the Biva area at Jozini is waterlogged. This tiny space houses his life’s possessions – a rusty one plate gas stove to the left, a mattress on a pile of bricks to the right, and a bucket of water from which he washes himself.
Mbokazi is in a wheelchair following the amputation of his right leg in November.
Speaking through councillor Vusi Gumede, Mbokazi says, the rains left him battered.
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Even further inland, along a slippery, muddy path, Mfana Gumede lives with his partner and two young children. His dried, muddied feet tell the story of a hard life. They’re among a few stick and mud dwellings, that sit isolated, about half an hour from Jozini town.
The conditions in the area have been erratic, initially due to the effects of Tropical Cyclone Eloise that hit Beira in Mozambique on Saturday. This brought hot, sticky and humid conditions.
By Sunday, it had been downgraded to a tropical depression. Come Monday, temperatures dropped, the wind speed picked up and rains continued to fall.
Weather forecaster Lulama Pheme says this is due to the existence of two energy systems in the northernmost areas.
“What it does when it touches the land it becomes overland depression. There was a cold front that was coming. Now, it has moved to the south. So, it is, yes, from cyclone Eloise, which has changed now to a depression because it went over land … and now it makes a lot of rain in that area.”
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This largely agricultural community is taking shelter. Farmers say the heavy rains are a second blow to their crops in less than a year. Farmer Thulani Mpontshane says COVID-19 was a blow to his business and that the excessive rains could even cause further damage.
“We are feeling so bad. COVID-19 affected us a lot last year. So, we lose everything we had last year. We planted. We were not able to get customers. Customers were at home. So, there was no one that was buying our crops. Actually, when the storms are coming, they’re going to hit everything in the farm. Actually, we don’t have enough money because we didn’t make money last year. So, it’s going to be a problem.”
Meanwhile, head of disaster management at the municipality, Ayanda Gumede, says teams are currently responding to about 50 families that have been impacted.
“As you can see, they have only one house and it was totally damaged. We have brought the temporary shelter; the tent; the sponge; the blankets; there is plates and pots a stove. All the kitchen stuff that might be needed by the family for the life to go on.”
And as life goes on, and this storm clears, these families say while they are grateful for the temporary assistance, they need long-term assistance to move out of the mud and onto solid ground.
Tropical storm Eloise leaves a trail of destruction in Limpopo
