Protea Glen residents rebuild homes destroyed by tornado

Residents of Protea Glen South of Johannesburg are reeling from a tornado which ripped through their homes on Monday. Mop up operations are now underway with residents asking for the government to help them get back on their feet.

Walking on the streets of Protea Glen, damages are visible - roofs of houses which have been affected by the severe thunderstorm on Monday.

Residents are trying to fix their homes even though their houses are tile-roofed and most of the tiles have been damaged. They say they have been severely affected because they could not even go to work as a result.

Now, residents need to dig deeper into their pockets to fix their homes and others are pinning their hopes on government to assist them.

One of the affected residents is Sharon Makhatini who was shocked to get home only to find the house without a roof.

"The tiles were all over the place and when I opened the door everything just fell apart and these are some of the tiles that fell from the ceiling. When we went to sleep we were also in fear that the storm might come back. We were not sure whether to sleep here or go somewhere, but by not sleeping here you just opening room for thieves to come and steal your stuff. We just hope to get assistance from mayor to meet us half way."

Most residents say their houses are not insured and this is going to have a huge impact on them financially. Matshidiso Tau says her daily routine has also been affected because she had to take a day off from work to fix the house.

"It is terrible because our lives have been affected, we tried to make supper but the stove is off, the kettle was off everything was actually off we slept on empty stomachs. Our kids cannot study rather we need to move them from one place to another, now she has to go to her brother on the other side so that she can continue with her studies."

Community leader, Violet Maluleke says they are appealing to anyone with help that will see residents who have been affected get on their feet again. She said they are speaking to local business people to also help.

Maluleke says their main concern is those houses that have been affected and no one in the family is working and also those led by children.

"We will meet business people to help us more especially to those who have been severely affected. I have been helping even taking my tiles to those houses with only children. We are also appealing to the municipality to help those who are not working."

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Nana Radebe is appealing for help with building material to fix the houses that were damaged.

"For now we still have 30-40 houses of which most of them don't have tiles, not all the tiles and roof tiles that were removed, it's some of the roof tiles. And some of them the walls have collapsed. So we would urgently need people to assist with cement and other building material."