Search still on for six people reported missing in Coffee Bay floods

Six people have been reported missing following heavy rains and subsequent flooding at Coffee Bay in Mqanduli, Eastern Cape.  The missing include a woman and her two children. Three others have drowned.

OR Tambo District Municipal Spokesperson Zimkhita Macingwane says their officials and community members have embarked on a search for the missing people.

“A joint effort between officials and members of the community ensued on Saturday to search for their bodies but it had to be called off when it started to become dark and the search will continue on Sunday morning. The heavy rains that have started pouring since last week have caused damage in various parts of the district. All the local municipalities have pockets of incidents where the road infrastructure, homes and also schools were affected.”

Komani residents refuse to leave their homes

Meanwhile, the Chris Hani Municipality says residents of the town of Komani are refusing to leave their homes.

The town is flooded following heavy rains. A woman died after flood waters swept her away. The municipality has been dealing with floods that have left over a thousand people displaced in Komani.

In the video below, Komani hit by more floods:  

Member of the Mayoral Committee for Local Economic Development, Sibongile Mbotshane says, “People are refusing to leave their homes to remember the fears that they have they might not come back again and they are there illegally. People are refusing to leave their homes remember the fears that they have they might not come back again and they are there illegally part of the problems we are faced with is also the drainage system in town the water that is coming from Bonkolo dam is coming straight to town and we do not have a proper drainage system that is able to contain that water and we divert to rivers where it damages our communities.”

Ladysmith City affected 

In northern KwaZulu-Natal, floods have severely affected the Ladysmith City Centre. Shops have been closed and motorists are urged to use alternate routes. No fatalities have been reported.

The mayor of the Alfred Duma Local Municipality Zama Sibisi says, “We budgeted R15 million to purchase the valves after having been advised by consultants that the flooding was mainly caused by the valves that were dysfunctional. But while we procure the valves, we could only get 8 which we have fitted and that is the reason why the flooding we are experiencing is not severe as the flooding that took place in the previous year. All in all, we are supposed to be fitting 11 valves but we have only fitted 8 and we are still awaiting the other 3 valves to arrive in March which is giving us hope that once we fit these 3 remainings, there will be no more flooding.”