Anguish in wake of Gauteng killer floods
Family hopes against hope after Pretoria woman swept away
CHRIS Venter doesn’t know what to say when his children ask him where their mother is.
He believes they are too young to understand that their mom, Madelein Murray, was swept away in the floods that devastated Gauteng this week.
Murray, 40, who owns a scrap metal firm, was driving to her home in Capital Park, Pretoria, with her eldest son Hanco, 21, at about 1am on Friday when the car was washed off a low-level bridge into the Apies River.
Hanco, who was driving, tried to grab hold of his mother as the current dragged them downstream. But she was washed away in the car.
The vehicle was found 1km from the bridge later on Friday, but there was no sign of Murray.
“Every time when the children ask ‘Where is Mommy?’, I do not know what to tell them. They are too young to understand what is happening,” said an emotional Venter, who has been in a relationship with Murray for the past eight years and was helping in the search yesterday.
Murray has four other children apart from Hanco, the youngest of whom is six. Murray became a grandmother two months ago.
“We are all traumatised by this. We pray that she is safe and will be found alive,” said Murray’s brother, Francois Roux.
“Madelein is a hard-working woman who will do anything for her children. We really hope to find her alive.”
Tshwane Emergency Services spokesman Johan Pieterse said they wanted the family to get closure and were doing their best to find Murray. A team of 15 emergency services members were still searching.
Six people are reported dead or missing after the Gauteng floods this week. Among those missing are Murray and threeyear-old Everlate Chauke.
The search was continuing for Everlate, who was swept away by the raging Jukskei River in Alexandra on Wednesday. She was ripped from the arms of her father, Shadrack, while they sought refuge in a tree after the river burst its banks. TORN APART: Madelein Murray and her son Hanco, who were caught in the floods this week
Shadrack and his wife, Cynthia, said on Friday that they had given up hope of finding Everlate alive, but hoped that her body would be found so they could give her a proper burial.
Cynthia said she was also clinging to the tree when Everlate was swept away.
“At that moment I told myself that God knew why my child was gone,” she said.
“I believe that everyone has their time to die. I did not blame my husband for not being able to save her.”
The couple, who are getting trauma counselling, described their daughter as a happy child who was always smiling.
Shadrack smiled himself when asked what his daughter was like, saying his favourite part of the day was getting home to see her as excited as he was.
The couple have been living in the Stjwetla informal settlement for 14 years after moving from Chikombedzi in Zimbabwe in search of a better life.
Alexandra resident Rosina Mosibudi this week told how the floods destroyed her home. TINY VICTIM: Shadrack and Cynthia Chauke have given up hope of finding their threeyear-old daughter, Everlate, above, alive
Petrified, unable to swim, with two small children to save as water gushed through her tiny one-room shack, she grabbed her girls and fled for higher ground.
With one child on her hip and another on her back, Mosibudi ran for her life, leaving all her possessions behind.
“My children have nothing. We lost everything, including our identity documents, birth certificates and even my social security agency grant card for my children.”
The lives of 400 people in Stjwetla were destroyed as the flash floods swept away most of the shacks on the banks of the Jukskei River.
By Friday, residents had returned to what used to be their homes, sifting through the remnants of their possessions.
Johannesburg Disaster Management registered the victims so they could receive aid from the Gift of the Givers, which has been spending about R45 000 a day to provide meals and hygiene essentials.
Yesterday, Ekurhuleni emergency services recovered the body of a woman swept away in floods on Thursday.
The body was found lying on the Jukskei River bank near Edenvale. Her name has not been released. SWAMPED: Stjwetla residents started picking up the pieces after Wednesday’s flash floods in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The Jukskei River burst its banks and left at least 130 people homeless
Every time when the children ask ‘Where is Mommy?’, I do not know what to tell them