DURBAN - Police search and rescue units are still searching for the bodies of two children who drowned while crossing a river near Bulwer in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.
Three children died in two separate weather-related incidents that included torrential rainfall and thunderstorms in the Harry Gwala District Municipality near Pietermaritzburg.
The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) stated that disaster management teams had been dispatched to the affected areas to provide support to the affected families and to conduct an assessment report.
According to reports from Cogta, the first incident took place in an area known as Bethlehem.
Nqobisa Macingo, 10, and Mbali Mthembu, 15, were swept away while trying to cross the Indlunzela River.
According to ward councillor Vusi Mthembu the children had attended a traditional ceremony on Saturday morning in the Sphahleni area, and were returning home with their group in a motor vehicle. He said the driver had noted that the river was full and decided not to drive through, but instead dropped off five children on the river banks. The children lived in an area across the river.
Four of the children decided to wade through the water but were swept away. Two of them managed to get to safety, and with the third friend alerted others for help. Mthembu said the families were devastated and when he arrived at the river they conducted a search.
“It was after 7pm and it was very dark. We could not see much, but we tried to find them in the hope that they were still alive. The relatives and mother were inconsolable.”
Khanyisile Sithole, a relative of 10-year-old Nqobisa, said they had let the children attend the event because they had not expected adverse weather conditions.
In the second incident, heavy rains and strong winds led to the collapse of a house. One fatality was reported and is believed to be a 5-year-old boy.
Mthembu said hundreds of homes were affected by the storm, and he was assisting where he could.
Cogta MEC Sipho Hlomuka urged residents to exercise extreme caution as the province continues to experience inclement weather.
Residents who have been affected are urged to contact their respective leadership at ward level.
Two weeks ago, a lightning strike killed a granny and two children and injured an infant in Ofafa in the uBuhlebezwe Local Municipality.
Last week, Hlomuka visited the Mzobe family. The lightning strike took place in the afternoon while Sizakele Antonia Mzobe was in the family’s rondavel with three of her grandchildren during a storm. A bolt of lightning then hit the house and killed Sizakele, 69, Asanda Mzobe, 12, Yolanda Mzobe, 9, and injured Esihle Mzobe, 13, who has since been discharged from the hospital.
Hlomuka also revealed that 26 people had been killed by lightning strikes in KZN between December and March.
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