As the flood waters rose rapidly higher in their house in a rural Limpopo village -a
distressed family sought refuge in the roof cavity of their home and waited for help or
death.
In the confined dark space, fearing death and hoping for a miracle, the family head, Elvis
Mabunda, eventually managed to get network connectivity and called his brother.
Fortunately, the call went through. His brother Ernest Freeman Mabunda, traditional leader
of Mbaula village near Giyani, picked up the call.
“We relayed the message to the government, and they were saved by the helicopter,”
Mabunda said on Thursday.
According to the spokesperson for the Mopani District Municipality Odas Ngobeni, the
helicopter was part of a joint operation with the South African National Defence branch
based in Hoedspruit.
Farming body Agri SA also dispatched a helicopter to assist people who were stranded in
Mbaula and neighbouring villages.
Mbaula village, located in the Greater Giyani Local Municipality, is one of the most
severely affected areas in the heavy flooding that hit both Mpumalanga and Limpopo
Provinces.
The most affected section of the village, called Petanenge, which is located next to the
Mbaula stream, suffered heavy losses.
In 36 households, 27 houses were completely destroyed, with all the items, including
identity documents and other valuable documents were swept away by the floods.
Ngobeni said 200 people huddled at the evacuation point at Masiza high school. A five-
year-old boy who was trapped in the floods with his mother is still missing after he was
apparently swept away. Chief Mabunda said a woman gave birth during the floods, but the
baby died after being exposed to the elements.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the village to assess the situation on Thursday
afternoon. Accompanied by Limpopo premier Phophi Ramathuba, MEC Ernest Rachoene
and Limpopo ANC Provincial secretary Reuben Madaji, Ramaphosa said the provincial
government will compile a report on the damages in the village and decide on what
intervention the government will make.
Chief Mabunda said the community is in distress as people have lost almost everything.
“But we are heartened by our government. The arrival of President Cyril Ramaphosa has
given us hope that the government thinks about us. He could have chosen to stay
away, and we would have done nothing. But now with his coming, we think the
government will do something for our community,” said Mabunda.
He said it was only one section out of five that was badly affected, and most of the people
are being accommodated by their relatives in other sections.
The Executive Mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality councillor Freda Nkondo said all
the local municipalities in Vhembe have been affected.
The area has also been hit hard by the flooding.
“Almost all bridges have been damaged, and some workers are unable to go to their
places of employment that include clinics and hospitals,” she said. She said almost all
bridges in all four local municipalities have been damaged.
She said the Mhinga/Lambani Bridge that leads to Thohoyandou town has been severely
damaged, cutting off the community of Mhinga from the community of Lambani.
“A woman and her two children who had gone on a visit and were to go home in the
Thohoyandou area spent two days not arriving home because of the water, and they were
saved by the helicopter,” she said.
She said many people were left homeless and were temporarily accommodated in halls
and churches. Nkondo has also warned motorists and pedestrians not to risk their lives
trying to cross overflowing rivers and bridges.
“Due to the continuous rainfall, I call upon motorists and residents to stop crossing
overflowing rivers and bridges as our district has been severely affected by the rainfall,”
she said.In Lombard village in ward 35 of the Collins Chabane Local Municipality, no
vehicles are getting into the village as both bridges leading there were damaged.
Crocodiles spewed out of the flooded rivers have been spotted in residential areas in some
of the affected areas. The floods have also affected the Kruger National Park in both
Mpumalanga and Limpopo, leading SANParks to activate its crisis management protocols.
They include precautionary evacuations at vulnerable northern camps such as
Shingwedzi, Sirheni and Bateleur. SANParks has also temporarily suspended day visits to
the Kruger National Park. The South African Weather Services has predicted heavy rains
in both Mpumalanga and Limpopo in the next few days.
“Due to the combination of very high amounts of rainfall already accumulated over the past
several days, and the expectation of further heavy rainfall, the risk of widespread flooding
remains critically high. As a result, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued
a Red Level 10 Warning for Disruptive Rainfall for areas most at risk,” the authority said in
a statement. – news@mukurukuru.co.za
