Mbaula Community Still Searching for Answers Months After Deadly Floods

MBAULA VILLAGE, Limpopo – More than four months after devastating floods tore through Mbaula village outside Giyani, residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives, with 18 people living in temporary shelters that lack electricity and the search for a missing five-year-old boy called off.

The floods, which struck in the second week of January, destroyed 36 houses and displaced scores of residents across the northeastern part of Limpopo. The Mopani district and parts of Mpumalanga were also battered by the erratic rainfall and intense flooding.

Five-year-old Siyanda Baloyi was swept away by heavy currents in the local Mbaula River and remains missing. Community members have not given up hope.

“We still continue going outside and check if we can get the remains of the child. We don’t get anything,” said Mr. Thomas Nkuna, a community leader in Mbaula. “The parents of the child are still hurt. They are not happy at all. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The search to trace Baloyi’s remains has been officially called off.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, accompanied by provincial leaders, visited the village following the disaster. Discussions from the provincial disaster relief centre have mentioned an amount of nearly 10 billion rand to assist affected communities.

At a temporary shelter established by the COGTA (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) department, 18 displaced residents are currently staying. Nkuna expressed gratitude for the assistance but highlighted ongoing challenges.

“The challenge we have in this shelter, the temporary houses, is only the electricity that is not in here,” he said. “We will need from the department if they can bring us the RDP houses. When they build the RDP houses, they can able to get the electricity.”

Limpopo remains among the provinces most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, alongside the Western Cape and North West, where recent flooding has also occurred. The overcast skies and sporadic rain falling over Mbaula serve as a stark reminder of the January disaster.