Durban - The Umlazi families who lost their houses in the violent Durban storms have been asked to sleep with friends and neighbours as the community halls were apparently full.
In one section of Umlazi H section, at least five low cost houses collapsed when the storms continued to sweep through the city on Tuesday morning.
Ward Councilor Amon Dladla said three people were killed in his area of jurisdiction.
A 17-year-old was killed when he was crushed by a wall in N section, while two people died in H section.
One of them was crushed by a wall, while the other, Mnotho Mlotshwa, 10, was buried in the muddy rubble after he was trapped inside his home when it collapsed.
Mnotho's body was recovered after a concerted effort by members of the community and rescue service efforts from the eThekwini Fire Department.
“Right now we are busy collecting the information of all the affected people,” said Councilor Dladla by phone just before 6pm on Tuesday night.
“Tomorrow we will submit the names to the municipality,” he added.
“We are still dealing with the families. We will accommodate them tonight,” he said.
When he was asked how and where the affected families would be accommodated, he said: “We asked them to share with neighbors because we are still busy,” he said.
One of the affected families was that of Lucky Mncube.
Mncube left his low cost house in the morning to help other families affected by the storm. When he left to help others, he left two young boys in the house. One of them survived, Mnotho was the other, but he died.
He said the area showed no signs of trouble when he left and was shocked to return to the destruction, which ultimately confirmed Mnotho's death by the afternoon on Tuesday.
Mncube said the family still couldn't believe Mnotho had died.
“We are really heartbroken to lose Mnotho,” he said.
He confirmed he had met and spoken with Councilor Dladla on Tuesday.
“I spoke to the councilor and he said they will find another site for us,” he said.
When asked where he would sleep on Tuesday night, he said: “We will have to sleep with friends and neighbours. They say the halls are full,” he said.
Speaking about his nephew, he said Mnotho was an obedient boy who loved football.
He was a Grade 4 pupil at the local Nselele Primary School and was a big fan of Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.
His favourite player was Khama Billiat, a Kaizer Chiefs attacking player who formerly played for Mnotho's team of choice.
“Right now we are all together,” said Mncube, referring to the other families who had lost their homes on Tuesday morning.
“We are all together here, there is not much we are doing, we are just here. As a family we are still trying to deal with this loss, I am heartbroken because there was no warning, it just happened,” he said.
Mncube said he had lived in the area for more than 30 years.
When he first lived in the area, his home was a shack, but it was later rebuilt by the municipality when contractors converted the shacks to low cost homes in the 2000s.
“We are really heartbroken to lose Mnotho,” he said.