About 14 houses in Zolani, near Phaphamani informal settlement, were destroyed or heavily damaged in last week's rains. While there were no reported injuries, houses were blown away, walls collapsed, and sheets of corrugated iron were spun around like leaves in the wind.
About 14 houses in Zolani, near Phaphamani informal settlement, were destroyed or heavily damaged in last week's rains. While there were no reported injuries, houses were blown away, walls collapsed, and sheets of corrugated iron were spun around like leaves in the wind.
Storms also dragged down power lines and uprooted trees in the area. Residents were eager to share their stories of loss and devastation after the past two weeks' record rainfalls with reporter Thembani Onceya and photographer Steven Lang.
Cikizwa Mvemve
What do you do when you have nothing at all to call your own, after working for years trying to make a home for your children? Cikizwa Mvemve was sleeping when her house collapsed around her on Saturday night. "I was awoken by the sound of the wall falling apart," said Cikizwa.
Neighbours rallied round to help her save her furniture and some essentials from the mud. They had since built a new shack, but it wasn't the same at all, she said, still overwhelmed at the prospect of starting over.
Eric Dingane
"I have lost clothes, food, furniture and the new mats I bought two weeks ago," Eric Dingane said, despairing that everything he had worked so hard to achieve had been ruined. The fire department had given them heavy duty plastic sheeting, but it was not enough, he said.
Nonathi Kate
As the only adult in the home, Nonathi Kate had battled to move the furniture when the floodwaters poured into her house and remained dammed up against the walls. "I had to drill a hole in my wall so the water could pass through," she said. She said her wardrobe had been damaged and the roof was still leaking.
