Some residents of Kraaipan in the North West are pleading for help after their homes were destroyed by a hail storm on Wednesday.
This comes on the back of a South African Weather Services warning of heavy rainfall and cold conditions for the next few days.
The area experienced overnight heavy downpours with hail storms causing damage to many homes.
Pako Kehitlhile said what they experienced was unusual and that they were still traumatized from the ordeal.
“We were watching TV as a family when we suddenly heard something like rocks hitting the roof. When I looked outside through the window, I saw the clouds changing. Then the hail started falling.
“There were no raindrops, it was just an unusually hard hail that just became stronger and stronger. My livestock was all over the yard running. Then the roof was leaking and the hail started breaking the windows.
“We hardly slept, there was a huge noise of children screaming. It was the same situation at our nearby houses. When such things happen we become really concerned because we don’t have a decent bridge. When it rains like this everything just comes to a standstill.
“Children don’t go to school, teachers also don’t go to work. All workers don’t go to school when it rains because we don’t have a bridge,” Kehitlhile said.
While Letlhogonolo Kgobela said most of her belongings were ruined by the hail.
“Everything was wet, my children’s school books were wet. We couldn’t sleep, even the furniture was wet. Our blankets everything. The TV is currently not working because it was affected by the water.
“And it’s 15h00 right now but it seems we are not going to get help today. I wonder what will happen if it rains today. A councilor just jotted down our names and left. We don’t know what the way forward is. Nothing was said to us,” said Kgobela.
The affected families are yet to receive any assistance and the mayor of Ratlou Local Municipality Matlhomola Jafta, said a report is still being compiled for higher authorities.
“I spoke to the ward councilor and he assured me that the ward committee is in the village looking for the affected families. We need to understand the number of households that we are dealing with. It is only after we have gathered the necessary information that, will be in a position to contact the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, to give them the report because the district is the one that assists us when coming to incidents of disaster,” Jafta said.
The community has also been asking for a decent bridge for some time, and the mayor said funds are still being raised.
“The residents understand the issue of the bridge. We always update them about the developments in that regard. As things stand we are working with the provincial Department of Public Works and Roads together with the office of the President to help us because the bridge needs a lot of funds that we as a municipality don’t have. So we are currently relying upon them for assistance,” he said.
The mayor said he could not immediately disclose the amount of money needed for the bridge, and said they will confirm the number of affected households at a later stage.
The Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality said it was yet to receive information about the incident from the Ralou local Municipality.
