By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
At least five people have been killed and roads and buildings damaged in devastating floods that struck the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast on Sunday night.
The floods left a trail of destruction in Margate with roads, businesses and infrastructure damaged.
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi says the death toll from last night’s flood at Margate on the South Coast has risen to five.
Sithole-Moloi says these floods come after the deadly Christmas eve flood in Ladysmith.
“Unfortunately, for us, as we have been saying, as we are trying to put our infrastructure back, another disaster came. As you recall, last year in November we were trying to pull ourselves together, heavy rain started in the north and in the town of Ladysmith.”
“Today, we are here in Ray Nkonyeni in Margate, it’s the same. We can safely say that we were just finishing another road that was washed away,” adds Sithole-Moloi.
Ugu Municipal spokesperson France Zama said mayor Skhumbuzo Mqadi was leading multi-disciplinary teams to the parts of Margate affected by the floods.
“Huge damage has been caused to water and roads infrastructure around the areas of Margate and an onsite assessment of the damages is underway,” Zama said. “A coordinated clean-up operation is in progress while cost implications of the damages caused are still being consolidated.”
Zama added that there has also been significant damage to road infrastructure. He said there are several homes in Margate and in some rural areas have also been affected.
The South African Weather Service issued a level five warning for further heavy downpours that are expected along the South Coast and in the eThekwini municipality on Monday, with projections of more than 200 millimetres of rainfall over a 24-hour period.