Residents living in Ladysmith disaster-prone areas urged to move to safety

DURBAN - Residents living in areas prone to disaster in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, have been cautioned to move to safer areas as heavy rains are likely to hit the rural town for the next two weeks.

This is according to the Uthukela District Municipality Mayor, Chief Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala, who was part of the government officials who visited the affected areas on Wednesday.

Ladysmith local government officials claimed that some residents did not adhere to weather warnings.

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"They are moving from their homes to be closer to work. Some are renting, actually, while some are building shacks there,” said the district mayor.

“So, if they can move away from those areas and go back home for this period of two weeks, or so."

At the same time, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said it was working on implementing solutions to mitigate the dams from flooding into the town but added that this would cost billions.