Storm forces eMzinoni residents from their homes
We realised our lives were in danger and we ran to hide under the tables until we saw the whole house's roof sheets were not there.
eMZINONI – Some eMzinoni residents were left stranded when a heavy storm struck the area on the afternoon of November 13.
Some of them were forced to leave their homes because the corrugated iron roofs on their homes were blown off and their furniture was damaged.
The storm hit many areas in Mpumalanga, including Standerton and Morgenzon. The electricity poles were damaged and left the whole of eMzinoni without electricity.
Nelly Lukhele (71) and her grandchildren thought it was their last day on earth when their roof blew off.
“We were left without a roof and forced to find a place to hide until the storm subsided. Fortunately, we found the roof sheet in our yard.
“When we realised all was quiet, we went outside and heard our neighbours also suffered the same fate.
“We all tried to reuse the damaged roof sheets to at least have a roof over our heads,” said Lukhele.
She cannot afford to buy new corrugated iron sheets for her house because she needs her pension money for her grandchildren and her survival.
She asked anyone, including the Govan Mbeki Municipality, to intervene. Elizabeth Mahlangu, whose house roofing was also blown away by the storm said she cannot believe she and her family are still alive after their ordeal.
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Mahlangu said the storm began as a normal gush of wind. She and her family were inside the house when the sheet over their lounge suddenly flew off.
“We realised our lives were in danger and ran to hide under the tables. The rest of the roof disappeared.
“It was already in the evening when the storm had passed and we went to our relatives for a place to sleep.
“We are unable to use those roof sheets damaged in the storm. We wish our municipality can assist because we do not have money for a roof on our house now,” said Mahlangu.
The Govan Mbeki Municipality executive mayor, Nhlakanipho Zuma said at a media briefing if a state of disaster is declared, the municipality would be able to intervene by procuring certain materials such as roofing to families who cannot afford it.
Zuma said these materials will include timber poles and corrugated iron for them to be able to fix their houses.
“We were also hard hit on the bulk distribution of electricity where the storm uprooted some of the poles, while cables were damaged which led to most of the areas of Bethal and eMzinoni being without electricity,” said Zuma.
He said the municipality, with support from the Gert Sibande District Municipality, is working to restore the damaged infrastructure.
The district already appointed a service provider to restore electricity to all the areas. Zuma said the electricity has already been restored in some areas.
He said they appreciate stakeholders like Eskom who came forward and promised to intervene by providing electricity materials like mounting poles to reroute the network in the affected areas.
