South Africa – The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government has offered support to the families of the flood victims in Ladysmith .
Heavy rains on Christmas Eve resulted in the Bellspruit River – which runs under the Mbonothu Bridge – bursting its banks, causing water to overflow onto the N11 road near the Limit Hill robots, in Ladysmith Town .
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Nomusa Dube-Ncube has extended her condolences to the families of the flood victims in the province .
Seven people have lost their lives in the province following heavy rains .
This figure includes six people who died when a riverbank collapsed in Ladysmith, and in a separate incident, the body of an 8-year old child was discovered in Mandeni on Tuesday .
“On behalf of the provincial government, we would like to send our condolences to the families of the victims .
The MEC for Cooperative Governance Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi has already been on the ground to assess the damage and meet with the families,” said the Premier .
She visited the scene on Wednesday to oversee the distribution of disaster relief and monitor the ongoing search and rescue operations .
The MEC said provincial government will offer support to the families of the flood victims in Ladysmith .
“We met with the families of the victims and reassured them that government will provide full support during this distressing period,” said Sithole-Moloi .
The search and rescue teams have been intensified and will work tirelessly in their efforts to find the missing victims .
As of Wednesday, the search and rescue teams led by the SAPS K9 Unit, along with IPSS Medical Rescue and the Al-Imdaad Foundation for Disaster Response, intensified their search efforts in the Ladysmith area .
This after the number of missing individuals continues to rise .
Sithole-Moloi paid a visit to the Msimango family in the Rossboom area, a few kilometres from Ladysmith Town .
The Msimango family lost six of its members, with three being discovered while the other three remain among those missing .
She further led the delegation of disaster teams that distributed disaster relief, including blankets, mattresses and essential amenities, to those who have lost everything .
“As a department, we have been providing assistance to all the affected families in collaboration with our disaster response partners .
“We are joined by various departments such as Human Settlements and Social Development, with representatives from the National Department also present .
We wish to assure the affected families that we will stand by them throughout this difficult period .
“Counselling services will be made available, and preparations for the burials of those who have passed away are underway .
Moreover, we want to assure the families that we will exert every effort to locate those who are still missing,” said the MEC .
As standard procedure, the disaster management teams will continue their assessments, working closely with all municipalities in the province .
Home Affairs and Social Development Department have been called in to provide support where some families have lost personal documents .