Africa-Press – South-Africa. We have been hit [by] a dark cloud. This is inexplicable. We have no home,” said Sandile Cele, 32, on Thursday as he cleaned the remnants of what was his newly-built home in Inanda.
Last week, he was at home with his mother and her two grandchildren when the tragedy struck.
His home was situated on a downslope area – and, together with others below it, was dealt a heavy blow by the raging floods on 11 April.
“We are fortunate that one of our old houses and my father’s grave remains standing.
“My father’s old rondavel was not touched, not a single drop of water went inside. Only our two newly-built houses were partially swept away,” he said.
“It was around 21:00 when we battled with the water gushing into our houses. We tried diverting the water away, but it defeated us. The water pushed heavy rocks into our homes, destroying our buildings.”
He said they were left with no option but to flee when big rocks started rolling down at high speed.
12 000 Family homes destroyed in devastating floods
“As we were fleeing, our neighbours, living in a house below ours, joined. They were lucky to escape with their lives. It didn’t take more than a minute before their four-roomed house was brought to the ground by heavy rocks.”
“My mother spent all my father’s money to build two new houses. We are only remaining with an old rondavel, where I was born.”
Cele said the disaster had weakened his mother’s health.
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“She can’t cope at all. She has no money to rebuild her home. My father, who was our pillar, is gone. We are left with no option, but to find a new piece of land and start our lives.
“The big question is, where will we source money because my mother and I are unemployed?”
Cele pleaded with the government to provide them with an alternative place to rebuild their lives.
Hard-hit neighbours
The Celes were not the only hard-hit homestead in the area. Many homes were partially or entirely destroyed.
A school was indefinitely closed after being flooded.
The only structure remaining from his neighbour’s home is the foundation. The neighbour’s pit toilet was also not spared.
Debris – including bricks, furniture, clothing materials, stationery, household items and electrical appliances – from the destroyed houses was scattered around the flowing stream.
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