WATCH | ‘I don’t have anything now’: Displaced Ladysmith residents lose everything in floods

Displaced residents of Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal feel they have nothing to go back to after floodwaters ravaged the town on Sunday. 

Despite chest-high water levels receding on Tuesday, 50 of the initial 125 displaced people from the immediate area who were housed at the Ladysmith Indoor Sport Centre, remained on Wednesday evening. 

Displaced resident Brenda Mazibuko wept as she described the sense of loss she felt. 

“That’s why I asked the guy when we could go back to our houses so that we can check everything, because I don’t have anything now,” Mazibuko says. 

“It’s not only me, my yard mates, my street mates. We’ve got children here. We don’t have anything, we just ran away like this.”

Members of the non-profit Al-Imdaad Foundation rescued Mazibuko from her home by boat. She says the floodwater reached her neck at the time of her rescue. 

The foundation has been feeding those affected at the centre.

She says she is eager to return to her home to see the extent of the damage, though at the time of her fleeing, most of her living space and belongings were under water.

The government has declared a national disaster in the wake of the damage caused across the country by heavy summer rains.

The declaration requires government departments to strengthen support in implementing contingency arrangements for those affected.

TimesLIVE