A Port St Johns family suffered a double tragedy after their homes were destroyed in a “five-minute” freak hailstorm on Thursday while on Saturday, a family member was killed by a car on the notorious R61.
The storm swept through the village at about 7pm on Thursday, flattening 24 houses – including those of Ncedisile Langa and his family.
Langa’s neighbour, Siyabonga Mgcekeni, 30, miraculously escaped death, when a wall collapsed on him after his house gave way in the gale.
Langa and Mgcekeni’s families were among eight left homeless in Buthulo village after the hailstorm swept through it, the area’s councillor Fikile Jama said.
Langa, who lost the two-room mud house he had shared with his three brothers, to the storm, said his parents’ modest mud-house was also destroyed, as was his older sister's house on the other side of the village. Still reeling from shock, his sister fell seriously ill on Saturday morning – and to make matters worse, his brother, Savuvu Noqhakuva, was killed when he was hit by a car on the R61.
“I don’t even know how to describe the pain that I am feeling right now. To lose a brother like that while we were still busy with this, is beyond painful,” he said.
Mgcekeni, who lives about 1km from the Langa families, was rushed to St Barnabas Hospital in Ntlaza after he was almost killed by falling bricks. He was relaxing in bed when he noticed drops of water trickling in through the ceiling. When Mgcekeni tried to get up to take his cellphone out of the way of the dripping water, the wall collapsed on him.
“I don’t remember what happened afterwards except that I woke up in hospital,” he added.
Mgcekeni suffered injuries to his back, waist and legs and now walks with the aid of a walking stick.
His distraught mother, Nohombile Mgcekeni, said they had applied for RDP houses in 2002 and again in 2013. She said her son would probably not have been injured if they had a proper house.
PSJ mayor Lindelwa Rolobeni said the issuing of RDP houses was the competency of the human settlements department.
“We forward applications to them and it’s their prerogative to issue houses,” she said, adding that they were now in the process of trying to secure temporary structures for those who were left homeless by the freak storm. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Storm flattens village homes
The storm swept through the village at about 7pm on Thursday, flattening 24 houses – including those of Ncedisile Langa and his family.
Langa’s neighbour, Siyabonga Mgcekeni, 30, miraculously escaped death, when a wall collapsed on him after his house gave way in the gale.
Langa and Mgcekeni’s families were among eight left homeless in Buthulo village after the hailstorm swept through it, the area’s councillor Fikile Jama said.
Langa, who lost the two-room mud house he had shared with his three brothers, to the storm, said his parents’ modest mud-house was also destroyed, as was his older sister's house on the other side of the village. Still reeling from shock, his sister fell seriously ill on Saturday morning – and to make matters worse, his brother, Savuvu Noqhakuva, was killed when he was hit by a car on the R61.
“I don’t even know how to describe the pain that I am feeling right now. To lose a brother like that while we were still busy with this, is beyond painful,” he said.
Mgcekeni, who lives about 1km from the Langa families, was rushed to St Barnabas Hospital in Ntlaza after he was almost killed by falling bricks. He was relaxing in bed when he noticed drops of water trickling in through the ceiling. When Mgcekeni tried to get up to take his cellphone out of the way of the dripping water, the wall collapsed on him.
“I don’t remember what happened afterwards except that I woke up in hospital,” he added.
Mgcekeni suffered injuries to his back, waist and legs and now walks with the aid of a walking stick.
His distraught mother, Nohombile Mgcekeni, said they had applied for RDP houses in 2002 and again in 2013. She said her son would probably not have been injured if they had a proper house.
PSJ mayor Lindelwa Rolobeni said the issuing of RDP houses was the competency of the human settlements department.
“We forward applications to them and it’s their prerogative to issue houses,” she said, adding that they were now in the process of trying to secure temporary structures for those who were left homeless by the freak storm. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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