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| Nowezile Mlonjana with her two grandchildren at their home wrecked by floods in December 2022 in the rural Eastern Cape. Photos: Manqulo Nyakombi |
In December 2022, floods destroyed 25 families' homes in Ngqamakhwe, near Butterworth, in the Eastern Cape. The families claim they have not received government assistance, with officials only visiting once and taking pictures of them living with empty promises. People lost their belongings and food, and no food parcel was delivered. The village community leader Dumisani Tshuku, Ngcisininde Komkhulu, expressed sadness about the officials who gave false hope to the families. Nowezile Mlonjana, a 73-year-old woman with two one-year-old grandchildren, said she had a six-roomed house destroyed by the floods and now has only one room left.
The roof is precarious, leaking, and could collapse. Mlonjana relies on an old age grant and the child support grants of her two grandchildren. Officials had assured her she would get a bungalow for accommodation by February, but no one has returned. Mnquma Local Municipality spokesperson Loyiso Mpalantshana confirmed that officials were sent to assess the damage and verify the number of people displaced. The information was sent to the Amathole District Municipality and the provincial department for human settlement, but no one has returned.
Questions sent to the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements spokespersons Caswell Mabunda and Phiwokuhle Soga have never been answered. Ward Councillor Lunga Dyantyi said the department promised to deliver 22 temporary structures, but nothing was given.
Groundup.org.za originally published this article
