Flood survivors mourning the loss of their loved ones following this week’s floods in KwaZulu-Natal, are appealing to government to relocate them to safer land from the Gwala Street Transit Camp in Lamontville in the south of Durban.

Nine people died in the floods while some remain missing.

Lulama Dingiswayo says all she could do was watch helplessly as her two children and her grandchild were washed away.

Dingiswayo says each time there are heavy rains their informal home floods.

“It was Tuesday night, about 10 o’clock. It was raining, and everyone was sleeping when we heard a knock on the door saying we should go out because the rain was coming into the house. All people must go out. People were shouting. All the people were in the house. The three children went out while we were searching for some documents since the rain was coming fast. When we tried to go out, the door was locked and we couldn’t open. When it opened, we went out to find that the children had been swept away,” says Dingiswayo.

VIDEO | Dingiswayo says she  is devastated by the loss after the floods:

While other families have been relocated at a community hall in Chatsworth, the Dingiswayo family want to remain in Lamontville to finalise funeral arrangements.

Phakama Dingiswayo’s 6-year-old daughter also died in the floods.

Sharing her memories of the last conversation with her daughter, Dingiswayo says, “What hurts me the most is that a few days ago, it was my daughter’s birthday on the 12th of February. She was turning 6, and I was away. I wasn’t here, and it was her first birthday without me. I promised her, called her, and told her I was going to come back, and we were going to celebrate her birthday, only to find that she’s no more.”

VIDEO| Mop-up operations are continuing in KwaZulu-Natal following floods: