By WONDERBOY DLAMINI | 2024-03-14

THE eastern part of the Lubombo region experienced torrential rains in the early hours of yesterday as the effects of tropical Cyclone Fillipo which dominated in Mozambique overlapped to Eswatini.

Many parts of the Lubombo region, in general, received significant amounts of rainfall between Tuesday night and yesterday.

The heavy rains were accompanied with strong winds, which left a trail of destruction in some parts of the region. As a result of the cyclone, some places and essential centres were inaccessible due to overflowing rivers and streams. Some of the areas which were affected included Ka-Langa, Sitsatsaweni, Makhewu and  Lomahasha.

Some members of the public took caution and stayed home after government issued a warning on the cyclone impact. The overflowing streams and members of the public having opted to stay away saw Siteki town deserted  as some shops were also closed. Siteki Bus Rank was almost empty as more than 80 per cent of public transport vehicles were not available. Secretary General of Lubombo Kombi and Mid-bus Association, Cromwell Shongwe said some public transport operators opted to park their vehicles due to the unstable weather conditions. Shongwe said most routes; especially  gravel ones, were inaccessible.

Transport

Almost all public transport vehicles that service rural communities were not on the road for the better part of the day. Shongwe said this was also because some people had opted to stay home. These included pupils, who commute to school on a daily basis. Most schools had advised pupils to stay at home.

Meanwhile, Lugongolweni Indvuna Yenkhundla Jabulani Mamba said there had been minimum damage caused by the heavy rainfall and strong winds under the inkhundla. Mamba said two homesteads around Makhewu had their stick and mud houses destroyed by the rains.

Moreover, Mamba said some areas under the inkhundla were inaccessible due to overflowing streams and footbridges.

"We currently have a challenge at Sitsatsaweni whereby residents are unable to cross the Manzamnyama stream which usually overflows during rainy days," said Mamba.

He also reported that most parts of the constituency were without electricity for the better part of the day after some  poles were destroyed  by the strong winds.

Similar situations were faced at Maphungwane, Tikhuba and Mambane communities under Matsanjeni North Inkhundla. The inkhundla experienced an electricity blackout since the early hours of yesterday. A resident of Maphungwane, Sabelo Matsenjwa said they also experienced networks blackout as a result of the unavailability of electricity.

Classrooms roofing blown off at Ndlalane Primary

The strong winds which came along heavy rainfall in the eastern part of the Lubombo region left Ndlalane Primary School at Maphungwane without roofing in three blocks of classrooms.

The classrooms were blown off in the early hours of yesterday as the tropical Cyclone Fillipo impact was felt in some parts of the country.

Lubombo Regional Education Officer Richard Dlamini said the classrooms had their roofing blown off just before dawn.

Experienced

Maphungwane is one of the areas that experienced strong winds on Tuesday night and during the better part of yesterday.

"The headteacher reported that they found three blocks of classrooms blown off in the morning," said Dlamini.

Pupils were advised to stay home while the administration works on repairing the damaged classrooms.

The REO said repairing the blown off roofing may take slightly over a week. In the meantime, Dlamini also reported that Mlindazwe Primary School at Siteki had classrooms flooded with rain water.

Rainy

The school is usually waterlogged during rainy days.

The REO said some classrooms at the school were flooded, making it impractical to keep pupils.

The school turned pupils back home, amid the situation. Dlamini said if the rain subsides, the school would be ready to resume classes next week Monday. Meanwhile, Siteki Nazarene High School was also partly waterlogged in between classrooms. Headteacher Bonginkosi Dlamini said even though there was minimum damage at the school, the administration elected to suspend lessons due to the heavy rainfall. 

Civil servant suffers E40 000 damage as government house blown off

A civil servant, who is housed in a government house at Siteki, suffered damages worth approximately E40 000 after the roofing was blown off.

Sifiso Dlamini said he was away on official duty at Hlane Royal Residence when he returned to find his household items soaked in water.

Dlamini said the roofing was blown halfway off during the night. Items which were damaged included beds, sofas, wardrobe and other furniture.

Dlamini said  a television set and other electronic gadgets were damaged by the rain. When visited, workers from the ministry of works were found to have made attempts to temporarily repair the roofing.

Roofing

“The roofing was already bad, which is why it was easily blown off by the wind," said Dlamini. He said he had no alternative place to keep his items at the moment. "If the rains continue tonight, more items will be damaged," he said.

'The rainfall is all that we desperately needed'

Despite the negative impact that was left by the heavy rainfall and strong winds in some parts of the Lubombo region, members of the public expressed relief on receiving rainfall at a time when they desperately needed it.

The Lubombo region has been experiencing extremely high temperatures over the past two months, resulting to crops being destroyed.

 The high temperatures were reported to have also resulted to water sources drying up in Lowveld areas. Lugongolweni Indvuna Yenkhundla Jabulani Mamba said the heavy rainfall that lasted for about 12 hours came as a relief to many communities.

"The damage we have conceded cannot be matched with the relief that has been brought by the rainfall," he said. Mamba said the dry spell was becoming worse with each passing day as the high temperatures continued.

Dams

He said they were relieved that some dams which are used for the upkeep of livestock were now full. Similar sentiments were shared by Musa Maziya of Maphungwane, adding that the rainfall gave hope for farmers who still had some crops in the fields. "Maize fields were quickly drying up, and we hope the rainfall will make some difference even though it is a little too late," said Maziya.

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