Flood survivors still struggling to cope, a year after tragedy

For six hours, Mncedi Buwa clung to an overhead wire above his flooded home in Decoligny, outside Mthatha, with his 18-month-old daughter tied to his belt by a shoelace. A year later, the events of June 10 2025 remain as vivid as ever. “I still think about that day all the time,” he said.

Security guard Buwa survived the floods along with his daughter and the child’s nanny. The floods claimed at least 104 lives across the Eastern Cape and left thousands homeless after torrential rain swept through communities in and around Mthatha. Buwa said he had woken up shortly before 5am and gone outside to use the toilet when he noticed water rushing towards his home.

Realising the danger, he ran back inside, grabbed a hammer and broke through the roof. He, the nanny and his daughter climbed onto the roof, where they remained stranded for more than six hours before rescuers reached them by boat. “We had no chance of making it out through the main door because the water was rising too fast,” he said.

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“Even now I am still not OK when I think about it. We were on that roof with my baby strapped to my belt only with a shoelace until a boat arrived hours later to save us. “It was the most painful and traumatic thing I have ever experienced.

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