Africa-Press – South-Africa. Three people, including an infant, have died in flooding in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi visited the bereaved families on Monday during mop-up operations in Newcastle, in the Amajuba District.
Two people – Nokubonga Mchunu, 22, and Thulani Mabaso, 52 – died after being swept away while trying to cross a large body of water. An infant died when the house it was in was flooded, said Sithole-Moloi.
Two other people were still missing after being swept away while trying to cross a flooded river in Ingwavuma.
During the visit, Sithole-Moloi and local leaders inspected flood-damaged areas in the Newcastle CBD.
“We continue to appeal to residents to exercise the utmost caution as the inclement weather conditions could continue,” said Sithole-Moloi.
Over the weekend, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) broadened its orange level-9 impact-based warnings to include a significant portion of eastern KwaZulu-Natal.
News24 previously reported that rain was expected to continue in parts of the province on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Monday, the government declared a national state of disaster in response to widespread flooding across the country.
In an unexpected statement on Monday night, the Presidency said the declaration would enable “an intensive, coordinated response” to the floods in Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape and North West.
In the Eastern Cape, thousands of people were displaced and two people died in the Chris Hani District Municipality.
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