What remains of a house in Newtown, oThongathi, after a tornado ravaged its structure and contents. Picture: Thobeka Ngema
Durban — Some oThongathi residents are reluctant to leave their damaged homes, fearing that thieves might strike.
Reaction Unit SA spokesperson Prem Balram said thieves were targeting properties damaged during the tornado in oThongathi on Monday.
Balram said Sandfields and Fairbreeze residents in oThongathi told their members that alleged drug addicts were entering homes that were damaged during the tornado and stealing anything valuable.
He said an elderly woman trying to restore her home in Sandfields told reaction officers that her grandsons were sleeping outside at night to protect household items they salvaged from the damaged home.
“Areas affected by the tornado are experiencing power outages. Thieves are utilising the darkness at night to gain entry to homes and strip them of their valuables,” Balram said.
Several homes were left empty after families were forced to relocate.
The video below shows a road in Sandfields where thieves work at night.
Meanwhile, speaking to an Independent Media team in oThongathi on Tuesday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said they were helping people with meals. On Monday night some victims were accommodated in community halls.
“We’re trying to make arrangements that we find a place where we can keep their belongings because the major problem is that they don’t want to move because of their belongings. They’re afraid their belongings will disappear,” Dube-Ncube said.
“So we need to find storage for their things and once we find the storage then we will be able to take them to temporary housing.”
In one of the homes the Independent Media team visited, they saw two televisions, a laptop and other electronics exposed on the collapsed side of the house.
In a rental cottage behind the home, trying to find a cellphone, a resident put her hand on the bed and under some items, fished out the cellphone.
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