A storm left many families in the rural areas of Vhembe without roofs over their heads last Tuesday night. The storm had swept through most residential areas in the Vhembe district, rendering a lot of damage in most villages.

Mr Sipho Maphophe (34) and Ms Thelma Masingi (28) were fast asleep at around 23:30 when they were awakened by the sound of the shifting roof sheets on their RDP house at Mambedi, near Elim. The storm blew at least six sheets away and displaced the rest in a disorderly manner.

“We were afraid and did not know what to do next, as rain, lightning and thunder reached us in the house,” said Maphophe. “We finally decided to run to my mother's house a few streets away.” When the unemployed couple returned to assess the damage the following morning, they discovered that all their food was wet and unusable. The house needed to be fixed before they could get back into it.

When Limpopo Mirror visited Mambedi and Valdezia, Maphophe and Masingi were busy digging holes where they wanted to erect a shack. “The municipality provided us with a tent and some food on Friday to relieve the situation,” Maphophe said when the paper spoke to him on Tuesday.

Ms Nancy Mashele (28) of Mambedi stays in a one-roomed house with her two sons, while her husband is in Gauteng. The roof of her room was blown away and she was left without shelter. As the rain came down in torrents and a strong wind blew, she clutched her sons by the hands and hid under the bed. It was not long after that she decided to rush for help to her neighbour’s house.

Another affected household is the indigent Marhumeke family, whose story was previously carried in our paper (Limpopo Mirror, 14 September), when Coghsta's construction project manager, Mr Thabo Ledwaba, promised to have a house built for them.

Ms Mudjadji Marhumeke (73), her daughter Maria Marhumeke and Maria's four children have been sharing a small, one-roomed structure which can hardly be defined as a house. The shelter is made of mud bricks up to shoulder height, with old blankets and thick plastic sheets used for walls. That also was not immune to the storm.

Zwivhuya Gay (18), his mother and siblings were watching TV at the neighbour's house when the storm tugged off the roofing of their house, throwing it several metres away. They reside at Dilinde, Mpheni, in Elim. "We are currently staying at our neighbour's home," said Zwivhuya.

Makhado Municipality spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi said that the storm had affected 194 houses in 41 villages within the Makhado municipality alone, and crisis relief was given to those families that showed that they were in dire need of help.