Emergency team to assist storm victims in Nongoma

An emergency housing team from the Department of Human Settlements has been dispatched to ascertain the extent of damages caused by a storm in the Nongoma area.

Several homes and various establishments were completely damaged on Friday night.

Human Settlement Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi said their preliminary assessments, indicate that several households in Ekubuseni, Gomodo, and Holinyoka areas were badly affected and scores of residents were left homeless.

“After the completion of these assessments, our Emergency Housing Unit will then intervene based on the four categories of emergency housing interventions provided by the Department.

“This means they will provide the affected families with building materials, and provide all homeless residents with temporary and emergency accommodation. They also construct temporary residential units (TRUs) for all destroyed mud houses.

“The fixing of all damaged formal houses will be done after the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) has completed the structural assessments,” Kubayi said.

She added that she has directed her department’s officials to ensure that affected households are assisted as a matter of urgency.

“We have roped in one of our agencies, NHBRC to help the team assess the integrity of all structures that have been affected”, she added

One of the affected establishments was the Salvation Army’s church building. The church’s hall, residential quarters, and tenants’ accommodation were blown away during the incident, and the church’s roof was also damaged.

Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army, Southern African Territory Commissioner Torben Eliasen, said they are still devastated to see the damage caused to their premises.

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