The emergency services in Ladysmith, in the midlands of KwaZulu Natal, has started evacuating residents from areas that were hit hard by the heavy rains yesterday. On Christmas eve, heavy rains hit the area and 24 people lost their lives after being swept away.

The KZN Disaster Management teams began responding to the flooding in Ladysmith and surrounding areas caused by heavy rains last night. KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi said that their teams, including SAPS, traffic police, emergency services and social partners, were on high alert and closely monitoring different areas due to the level 2 warning issued by the South African Weather Services. 

Upon realising that a significant amount of water was flowing into Ladysmith town, some of the roads, including the N11 between Newcastle and Ladysmith, had to be temporarily closed to mitigate the risk. Some of the roads will remain closed as the town is still flooded. Approximately 70 people were evacuated from the Ladysmith central and placed in the Indoor Sport Centre to ensure everyone's safety. "Our teams also responded to the Steadville township area where 15 people had to be evacuated to the community hall, and another 23 in Matiwane were placed in the community hall for their safety," said Moloi. Moloi added that the Provincial Disaster Teams working with the Al-Imdaad Foundation for Disaster and the South African Red Cross have provided disaster relief to the affected people, including blankets and mattresses.

Moloi further said that in another incident, disaster teams also responded in the area of Msinga, where people residing in a block of rental rooms built along the uThukela River were evacuated as the river was overflowing after heavy rains. "Our teams are monitoring the situation and once the area has been confirmed to be safe, they will all return to their homes. At this stage, neither fatalities nor injuries have been recorded as a result of this heavy rainfall. Our teams are on the ground conducting assessments of the damages to households, businesses and infrastructure," she said. Moloi also encouraged communities to work together with the government in the response by adhering to the instructions given to them. "We will continue to provide disaster relief, and all our municipalities will be out to ensure every family at risk is assessed to receive assistance. Heavy rains are not over yet and we plead with communities to continue exercising extreme caution by moving to safer places when it rains," she said.