200 families left homeless after downpour

The storm swept through the area in the wee hours of Saturday and is said to have left a few people fighting for their lives in hospital.

The Nkomazi Local Municipality’s spokesperson, Cyril Ripinga, confirmed that a total of 200 families were severely affected.

“We are shocked and sad as a municipality. About 12 villages were affected by this storm. Some people were admitted to hospital, and one person is reported to be in a critical condition in ICU,” he said.

In January some parts of Nkomazi were heavily devasted by the heavy rainfall as a result of the Tropical Storm Eloise. It destroyed roads, bridges and houses in many villages.

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Most of the damage caused by that heavy rainfall still has to to be fixed. This time around the heavy storm damaged houses and roofs with areas such as Langeloop, Driekoppies, Aniva, Schoemansdal, and Schoezedal the most affected.

“The Department of Human Settlements in Mpumalanga is still busy assessing those areas. As the municipality we have provided those residents with food parcels, stoves, tents and blankets,” mentioned Ripinga. One of the badly affected families said they are still shocked but happy to still be alive.

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“I was asleep when I suddenly felt raindrops on my face. I got very scared as I saw lighting strike next to my bed. Surely I thought I was going to die. I have lost everything, and I don’t know what I am going to do to rebuild my home since I am unemployed. My child got badly injured and is still recovering in hospital,” said Bhekisile Mvumbu.