ROCKS CRUSH HOUSES AT MANGWANENI

MBABANE – You could swear that these homes were abandoned 10 years ago.

The pictures depict the state of some houses located at Mangwaneni, which were destroyed by the rains brought about by Tropical Cyclone Eloise, two days ago.

Over 30 residents are currently stranded as they were forced out of their houses, which were left in a bad state after huge rocks were ejected by water and damaged them. In an interview with most of the residents, they blamed this on the building ban imposed by the Municipal Council of Mbabane in the area, many years ago.

Dumisani Magagula, a resident, said they were as good as dead. Magagula said everything including food was damaged by the rocks and water. 

Destroyed 

He said all his furniture was destroyed and he needed to replace everything. “A neighbour is currently accommodating me and my family and we do not know for how long this will go on,” said Magagula.

He said when government constructed the road and houses at Mangwaneni, they created limited drainage, hence the water was not diverted and came with pressure directly into their houses, damaging them in the process. 

He blamed council for prohibiting them from building proper houses. 

However, he was quick to note that the area was under the royal kraal, hence they did not consider council although they were to blame as they had halted development in the area following the ongoing dispute. 

Sibonile Phiri said they were accommodated by a neighbour following that their house collapsed. Phiri said they were unable to salvage anything as all their household items were buried in the mud, including her father who miraculously survived. “We recognised him by his hand as the mud had buried everything including the bed he was sleeping on,” she said.

Phiri said they had no clue where to begin as the family was poor and the only breadwinner was her elderly father. She said they were without food and clothing following that they could not salvage anything.  

Another resident, Vusi Nhlabatsi, who had part of his house damaged, said for over 20 years, he had occupied the place and never thought he would live to see this day. “We are lucky to be alive and that the rocks only affected a section of the house,” said Nhlabatsi.

According to Nhlabatsi, part of his affected house was a bedroom which is occupied by his teenage sons, who escaped unscathed. He said he had no clue as to when he would attend to the damages as he was not in a good financial position. 

When reached for comment, council’s Public Information Officer (PIO) Lucky Tsabedze said they had actually issued an announcement which ran on national radio before the tropical cyclone, encouraging residents to forward requests for permits to strengthen their walls.

“Council doors are still open in as far as issuing of temporary building permits for rebuilding walls that have fallen,” he said.

However, Tsabedze stated that they would not allow the building of extension walls.

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