At least nineteen people have lost their lives, including a five- year-old boy in Limpopo due to heavy rains that have battered several districts.
President Cyril Ramaphosa flew into the province to assess the damage following heavy rains in the province. Heavy rainfall and flooding have battered several districts, including Vhembe, Mopani and parts of Sekhukhune, Waterberg and Capricorn. Just over 30 homes have been destroyed after a river burst its banks.
“We have seen the catastrophic damage that has been caused in Limpopo …
“One five-year-old child has also passed away. This saddened us because the loss of life is always something that is really devastating and should be devastating to all of us, he added
The 5-year-old was with his mother when they were both swept away by the water. His mother was found clinging to a tree for hours before was rescued by members of the South African National Defence Force.
“Starting in the Vhembe district we saw how a number of houses were flooded and how people have lost their possessions from the huge, huge rain that has been raging in this part of our country.
Now here in the Mopani district, it’s even much worse, there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the earth. Everything is gone … the roofs, the walls, the fences, everything,” he said.
Ramaphosa promised the people affected by the floods that government will step in and rebuild their lives
“Our people will be taken care of, there have been records, the details of every household and every person are now being gathered and we will be making sure that they are taken care of. Even as some of them have gone to their relatives homes government is going to help them to rebuild their lives.”
Emergency services and disaster management teams are on the ground to ensure coordinated rescue efforts, public safety and the protection of affected areas.
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