THE family members of four flood victims were in pain when they said farewell on Sunday 24 April.
The four, Thembisile Nhlangulela (54), Nomzamo Nhlangulela (33), Asanda Nhlangulela (8) and six-month-old Sbani Nhlangulela, were laid to rest in Verulam, north of Durban.
They died on Tuesday, 19 April, when the house they were sleeping in collapsed during the KZN floods, which claimed over 400 lives.
Family spokesman Sibongiseni Nhlangulela (38) said the entire house collapsed.
“The first body that was found was Sbani’s, followed by her mother. It looked like Nomzamo was holding her when the tragedy happened,” he said.
He said the other bodies were found in the yard on the same day.
“We didn’t have to search for them for several days. It brings us peace that we managed to find and bury them,” he said.
He said the family didn’t have money for the funeral, but luckily Nhlanhla Cele of the National Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa (Nafupa) came to the rescue.
“He contacted his managers and they organised everything.”
Nafupa president Julie Mbuthuma said they decided to help the family after discovering they had nothing.
“We first took food parcels to the family. I then contacted people in the burial business to help the family. Fortunately, everything was sorted out,” she said.
