A German tourist has drowned at Coffee Bay after being swept away while crossing the lagoon when floods again struck parts of the Eastern Cape this week.
Further north along the coast at Rhole in Ingquza Hill municipality three residents have been reported missing and disaster and risk management teams have been sent to search for them, said district municipality spokesperson Zimkhita Macingwane.
Sonwabo Mampoza, spokesperson for the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality which includes Coffee Bay, said the 25-year-old German could not be named yet.
“The woman was with two others who survived. They were crossing the river from the Ocean View side, without the assistance of lifeguards, and were swept away towards the sea,” Mampoza said. “The woman’s body was recovered by lifeguards after being washed up.”
Zukile Rixi, a lifeguard at Coffee Bay, was among those took part in the search for the tourist, who had been crossing the lagoon back to the Coffee Shack backpackers, where she was staying.
“We heard that she, another tourist and a surf instructor were crossing the lagoon and were in the middle when a big torrent came gushing down,” Rixi said.
“She was missing for about 25 minutes until we [eight lifeguards] and those she was with found her already dead.”
Coffee Bay also experienced flooding last month, along with Xhorha Mouth, Mpame, Willowvale, Komani, Cofimvaba, Mthatha and Port St Johns.
Leon Botha, chair of the Coffee Bay and Hole-in-the-Wall Business Forum, said businesses were still trying to recover from the February floods but Thursday's rain set them back to square one.
In February, his Nenga River Lodge was flooded, and repairs cost R800,000.On Friday, it was flooded again.
Local businessman Zukile Ndungane, who owns the Nontuli-on-Sea butchery, a seedling business and fruit and veg outlet in Coffee Bay, has had to let go of more than 10 workers because of the floods.
“I spoke to KSD mayor [Nyaniso Nelani] yesterday and he promised to send people [to help]. People whose homes were damaged were promised temporary structures, and they promised to fix access roads.
“There are no services here and we are losing income due to people not being able to visit,” Ndungane said.
Mampoza said: “The municipality has not forgotten its people and ways and means are being found to fulfil its commitment by providing what the municipality said it would.”
In Port St Johns, mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo said five children were struck by lightning on Thursday but were in a stable condition.
“The situation here is worse than previous years. Even places that have not experienced flooding before have been affected, such as houses in town. The road towards Second Beach has been damaged. There have been no fatalities.”
Videos circulating on social media showed sinkholes on the R61 entering Port St Johns.
“Engineers have been dispatched to assess the extent of damage,” transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said.
“We are keeping a close eye, particularly on our mountain passes because it has been raining for so long the soil is saturated and we fear there might be rockfalls.”
Buffalo City Metro issued a level 2 “disruptive rain” weather warning and its disaster management teams are on standby.
— additional reporting by Anelisa Gusha
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