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Sukulwenkosi Dube, Plumtree Correspondent
NONKULULEKO Ngwenya (14) who was left by her mother to look after her six siblings watched in despair as their home was completely destroyed by a hailstorm which struck Bambadzi area in Bulilima District, Matabeleland South last week.
In an interview with Sunday News, she narrated how she had to shelve her fear throughout the horrific ordeal in order to ensure that her siblings aged between three and six survived.
Affected families from Tjibudzana Village revealed that they were now forced to beg for food from neighbours following the hailstorm that destroyed their homes and livestock. Nonkululeko said she was now relying on well-wishers from the community to assist her with food to look after her siblings.
The teenager who is a Grade Seven dropout said the only two huts which they had were destroyed by the rains.
“When the rains started, I called my siblings and we went to the kitchen hut. The rains intensified and hail fell from the sky.
An hour later water started seeping into the house through the door. We all ran to the bedroom hut and to my shock the floor was already swamped with water. We had nowhere to go and we stood inside. I was really scared and I thought that we would drown as the water had reached knee level,” said Nonkululeko.
She said she was left with the task to ensure that the youngest children did not drown. Nonkululeko said they later ran out of the house and went to their grandmother’s homestead a few metres away where they spent the night. She said when they returned the following morning their huts had collapsed. She said her mother went to Botswana in July leaving her in custody of her siblings.
“We lost all our food in the hailstorm. At times our grandmother gives us but when she doesn’t have any, we beg from neighbours,” said Nonkululeko.
She said they also lost four goats in the hailstorm. Ms Bakani Tshuma said she was at home with her five children when the disaster struck around 5pm on Friday last week. She said she dragged the youngsters from one hut to the other as each of her five huts collapsed before her eyes. Ms Tshuma said she finally fled with her family to a neighbour’s homestead. She said the road was barely visible because of the hailstorm and the water had filled the yard up to knee level.
Ms Tshuma said since the incident, she had set up a temporary structure made of thatching grass for her family to sleep in.She also lost 16 chickens.
Ms Sofia Moyo (82) said she was lucky to be alive as her grandchild pulled her out of her bedroom hut as it was about to collapse on her.
“I first found shelter in the kitchen and when water started seeping in I went into my bedroom hut. I found the water at knee level and as I entered I fell. I called for help and as my granddaughter pulled me out the hut collapsed to the ground,’’ she said.
Bambadzi Ward councillor Zoolakes Nyathi said four villages from his area were affected and the worst was Tjibudzana.
He said his area experienced a similar disaster in 2013 where several homesteads were destroyed by rains. Headman Mbimba said according to an assessment they carried out 112 homesteads were affected and 10 were completely washed away in Bambadzi Ward. He said the families were now begging for food from community members.
Headman Mbimba said they feared that more houses could collapse as some were now shaky following the hailstorm.
The Bulilima Civil Protection Committee on Thursday handed over 1 010 kgs of mealie-meal, 30kg of sugar, 57kg rice and clothing which was donated by members of the Plumtree Business Community and Government departments. They also gave three tents to the homeless families.
Online Reporter