“My house is gone, our car is still stuck in the river, my nephew is dead, my husband and both my sons are missing, and I am nursing a broken arm and a broken heart.”
These were the words of Nosipho Khosi-Dabane, 41, a miraculous survivor of the floods that destroyed her home and swept her about 6km down the Cicirha River.
The Tabase village resident was left stuck in a tree, bruised and battered, with a broken arm. Despite this, she was able to swim out of the raging waters.
But that was not the end of the horror. Her husband and two teenage sons are still missing. Her nephew’s body was found two days later.
Khosi-Dabane will join others at the provincial day of mourning ceremony on Thursday, still hoping her family will be found.
Fighting back tears, she said: “I check everywhere. Every day I visit the Mthatha forensic pathology department hoping to find them.
“We have been looking for them for almost 10 days.
“My prayer is just to find their remains, I’ve lost hope they are still alive. All I want is to bury them in dignity and give them a decent send-off.”
The missing are her husband Calvin, 45, and sons Iminathi, 15, and Lusanele, 13.
Her five-roomed house was flattened by the floodwaters and all the furniture destroyed and swept away.
Speaking about the fateful day, she broke down.
“When the house flooded, I was in the kitchen and my husband and the boys were in their room.
“The last time I saw one of my boys, he was hiding in the wardrobe as the house was collapsing from the water.
After that she was swept away.
“The current was strong and I was pushed up and down in the water but at times I got my head above the water. It was dark and scary, but I tried to avoid swallowing too much water.
“I was praying and used my swimming skills. I thought I was going to die.
“But I didn’t lose consciousness, I was wide awake. I didn’t know where the water was sweeping me to.
“I got bumped into debris and roots and my arm broke when I was swept hard into a tree.
“I grabbed it, though in pain, feeling in the dark with strong currents trying to pull and push me off the tree, I managed to cling on.
“I then pulled myself out of the tree and the debris. After that I did not know where I was, I saw a lit house and went and knocked,” she said.
“They said I was in Slovo Park.”
She collapsed and was taken to hospital.
Khosi-Dabane has now called for people to help her find her husband and children.
She is from Tabase village, where 10 pupils from the Jumba Senior Secondary School died when their scholar transport was swept away.
Daily Dispatch
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