The MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs Mr Soviet Lekganyane expresses his heartfelt condolences to the communities, friends and families of those affected by a tragic tornado which include the village surrounding the Hans Masebe school (near Mokopane, formerly Potgietersrus) in Limpopo. Extensive damage was inflicted on houses in the area and the well-built brick classrooms were almost totally destroyed in some cases. In the process, a five-year-old boy, William Mavalela, was killed when a wall of his home impaled on him. As many as 50 (fifty) people were treated by hospital staff for an assortment of injuries, including cuts and lacerations from flying sheets of corrugated iron. An eight-year-old child lost his life, and at least 160 people were injured when the storm tore through the township of Duduza near Nigel (south-east of Johannesburg) on Sunday night.
Hundreds of people were left homeless and spent the night at a local multi-purpose centre. Similar tragedy occurred consecutively at Ficksburg in the Free State province where a nine-year-old boy was killed and 42 people injured in a tornado.
On behalf of the department, the Limpopo MEC Mr Soviet Lekganyane sympathises with the once left homeless and injured by the virtue of incident. In occurrence of such turbulences, immediate and profound remedial actions need to be taken as the community as a whole deserves integrated human settlements.
For more info, please contact:
Ms Diale Tseng
Cell: 083 652 5276
