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When heavy rains come, sick people in Khayamnandi village in the rural hinterlands of Cofimvaba cannot travel to hospitals to access medical care, children are forced to miss school while even hearses from private mortuaries bringing bodies for burial have to turn back. This is because Intsika Yethu municipal bosses have consistently failed to repair a small bridge over a stream near their homes.
For many years, Lower Tsojana villagers in Tsomo complained fruitlessly to the government about the condition of their bridge, but it took businessman Bonke Makalala only six days and 25 people to fix it. Makalala, 32, said he realised he needed to do something about the dilapidated bridge, which had become impassable during heavy summer rains, leading to drownings and proving a nightmare for motorists to cross.
Here's a quick glance at what the weather forecast holds in store across all the South African provinces. Stay warm or keep cool.
A yellow level 4 warning for disruptive rainfall was issued for the south-west of KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 100 residents of Ntwashwini village, in Cofimvaba, have rallied together, collecting rocks and rubble to fill in multiple large holes in the road at a bridge across the Qitsi River. A total of 120 villagers, including some as young as 14, and the elderly in their 70s, made use of a large truck and three tractors owned by residents to collect rubble to fill in holes as large as six metres across.