Matsanjeni – Forty households in Matsanjeni South whose homes were destroyed by a hailstorm have received government relief assistance through the National Disaster Risk Management Authority since Tuesday, with Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla personally visiting some of the affected families to assess the damage.
The Deputy Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla and NDRMA Chief Executive Officer Victor Mahlalela during the visit, which revealed widespread destruction including collapsed stick-and-mud houses and leaking roofs that families cannot afford to repair.
The newly built house handed over to Mkhulu Sipho of Dinabantu during Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla’s visit to hailstorm-affected communities in Matsanjeni South. The house was financed by PMI from Switzerland. (Picture: Deputy Prime Minister’s Office)
Among the hardest hit are Zodwa Dlamini, 46, and Gogo Manoma Langwenya, 75, both of whom need entirely new homes. Zodwa’s house is severely cracked and leaking, forcing her to send her three grandchildren to live with their paternal grandmother. Gogo Manoma, who shares a dilapidated one-room hut with nine grandchildren, told the Deputy Prime Minister about her family’s struggle with hunger and the constant danger of snakes getting into the crumbling structure. 
Make Zanele Mngometulu, 51, broke down in tears as she recounted how she narrowly escaped electrocution when her stick-and-mud house collapsed during one of the storms. While none of her family members were injured, the disaster left them all squeezed into a single room, with one of her sons now sleeping in a shack.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla assured the affected families that building materials would be delivered soon and that construction would begin to provide safe and spacious homes for the children.
Relief efforts also extended to two community garden schemes that were devastated by the storm. The Khanyisani Bomake garden scheme at Nkonka received 25,000 tomato seedlings, 25,000 green pepper seedlings and 32 bags of 50kg fertilizer. The Sizesiphumelele scheme at Nsalitje 2 received 20,000 beetroot seedlings, 10,000 spinach seedlings, 10,000 onion seedlings, 2,000 green pepper seedlings, 37 bags of 50kg LAN and 20 bags of 50kg fertilizer.
During the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister also officially handed over a newly built house with a makeshift kitchen, toilet and water tank to Mkhulu Sipho of Dinabantu. The house was financed by PMI from Switzerland. Mkhulu had previously been living alone in a fragile stick-and-mud hut where snakes were a constant threat.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla thanked His Majesty King Mswati III for fostering the diplomatic relations that have made it possible for international partners and companies to step in and support Eswatini communities in times of urgent need.
