-
Men sift through the rubble of a church which collapsed because of severe weather.
The KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements Department says it is providing temporary shelter to more than 100 people in New Hanover in the province’s midlands.
The people have been left destitute after an informal settlement built on a flood plain was flooded following heavy rain overnight.
Search and rescue teams have recovered the body of one of three people who went missing after being swept away.
VIDEO | The body was found by community members after being swept away by floods:
The floods have caused significant damage to infrastructure.
“The Minister has delegated a team. I have already spoken to the Mayor and the council that let us identify an area for TRUs (Temporary Residential Units). We are just going to do that. The minister is coming here next week on Monday, because we take this seriously.We were communicating with the leadership of Umshwathi, saying that identify an area where they could be accommodated temporarily. We understand the disaster already,” says Department’s MEC is Siboniso Duma.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of the uMshwathi Municipality, Mandla Zondi, has confirmed that foreign nationals from countries including Lesotho are among the residents who are displaced.
He says some opted to find their own alternative accommodation before the verification process was conducted.
“We tried to relocate them to the main hall and also to the school only to find that because most of them are foreign nationals, before we put them in the hall or in the school, we need to verify them. We need to list them down, then they said, no, they are okay. They will find alternative accommodation, but as we are here now, the offer is still standing for those who are displaced. We will accommodate them in our community hall and in the school.”
