Toddler's mother clings to hope after she was swept away by Durban flood

An Umlazi woman has spent every cent she has in search of her daughter‚ who was swept away by flash flooding in the south Durban township a week ago.

Lindokuhle Kweyama is still clinging to hope that her missing daughter‚ Okuhle‚ will be found. The toddler was washed away when the river near her crèche in Umlazi D-section overflowed during a storm that ravaged KwaZulu-Natal last Tuesday.

“I haven’t been sleeping. I have been going to the police station every day to seek answers since her disappearance‚” Kweyama said.

The little girl had been pulled from the rising waters and placed on an embankment by a passing schoolboy. But as the scholar returned to rescue other children from the crèche‚ the toddler was washed away by the torrent.

The search for the missing child has been scaled down but the distraught mother has not given up on the quest to find her daughter.

The storm battered the coast of KwaZulu-Natal for 12 hours and has so far claimed 15 lives.

Damage from the extreme weather is expected to run into the billions‚ with crucial state infrastructure like hospitals and schools damaged by heavy rains and driving winds.

“I haven’t been to work since Tuesday‚” Kweyama said. “I have spent all my money travelling to and from the police station.”