We will rebuild shacks damaged by tornado: EFF's Malema

27 July 2016 - 16:31 By Penwell Dlamini

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has committed his party to help build shacks that were damaged by a tornado in Tembisa on Tuesday.On Wednesday‚ Malema visited families who were busy rebuilding their shacks and houses following Tuesday's tornado‚ which left a trail of disaster in its wake.According to the City of Ekurhuleni, the thunderstorm blew roofs off about 200 households in Winnie Mandela leaving an estimated 400 people displaced. Other areas damaged by the storm include 100 shacks and 20 houses in Hospital view.Malema blows into tornado-torn TembisaEconomic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema got a hero's welcome on Wednesday when he visited families whose homes were hit by a tornado on Tuesday afternoon."We are going to be rebuilding shacks. We are going to send our Fighters to go back so that it becomes a genuine intervention without the media‚" he said.Video courtesy Jana van den Heever via FacebookHe added: "I have spoken to an old lady where a shack is completely collapsed. There is nothing. Her bed‚ a fridge‚ everything has been taken‚ and I whispered in her ear that the EFF branch will come back because I don't want to do it like we are (only)... electioneering."In Pictures: Tornado-hit Tembisa picks up the piecesResidents of Tembisa have started picking up the pieces after a tornado swept through the area on Tuesday afternoon, damaging buildings and displacing 400 people. Malema also urged the State to help families. "Let the government ensure that the children and adults who are injured in the hospital receive the best medical care because this is a disaster. We ought to show our people that we care."The tornado also ripped the roof off Phumulani Mall and damaged Tembisa Tertiary Hospital. The Gauteng department of health said the hospital fence, carports, about 20 vehicles, three ambulances and the roof of one building had been destroyed and trees were uprooted. Ekurhuleni has established a Joint Operational Centre (JoC) to assist victims of the tornado,  providing salvage sheets as an interim measure to cover the roofs, distributing food parcels and blankets as well as deploying social workers and mobile clinics...

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