DINEO LEAVES OVER 50 FAMILIES WITHOUT SHELTER

PIGG’S PEAK – Cyclone Dineo may not have been as strong as had been predicted but for many residents around northern Hhohho and some parts of the Lubombo region, it left behind a trail of misery.

Heavy rains razed houses at Vuvulane last week, leaving at least 20 families without shelter. Other affected families were from Pigg’s Peak, Mayiwane, Mangwaneni and Ntfonjeni.
About 50 families are suspected to have been left homeless, and a comprehensive assessment of the damage is yet to be conducted as some of the roads to the areas are inaccessible, according to the Red Cross Society.
Fortunately, occupants of the houses escaped unscathed and there were also no fatalities reported.

Only the clothes, furniture and other valuable items of the occupants were destroyed.
Some of the affected families reside at Section 19 and Macethuka areas, two predominantly poor communities situated deep inside sugar cane fields at Vuvulane.
The areas fall under Mhlume constituency, whose Member of Parliament (MP) is Sifiso Magagula.
Magagula said the damage caused by the heavy rains was severe because the houses were already in a dilapidated state.

“All the affected houses were built using stick and mud and prior to the rains, their conditions were already bad,” said the legislator, who is also a businessman.
He explained that the reason residents of informal settlements around Vuvulane did not erect permanent structures was that they were mostly seasonal workers.

He said initially, farm owners had arranged that the seasonal workers would reside in the informal settlements on a temporary basis but some families ended up residing in these areas on a permanent basis.
Magagula said although he was relieved that no lives were lost while the houses were destroyed, he was worried that some families had no shelter.
The legislator said he was also worried about the items that were destroyed by the heavy rains.

Magagula appealed for help from the public, stating that help in whatever form would be greatly appreciated. He stated that since it was not feasible for residents of the informal settlements around Vuvulane to erect permanent structures, the only way they could have decent shelter was to erect structures using planks and some special timber.

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