5-year-old killed after shack collapses

It was still dark when Ntombifikile Zangwa heard the walls of her shack begin creaking‚ as torrential downpours lashed the .

She walked outside to see what was going on and‚ moments later‚ the largely corrugated iron structure came crashing down.

Still stunned on Wednesday by what had happened‚ her thoughts turned to the rubble that had trapped her two children - claiming the life of her 5-year-old son Emmanuel - during torrential downpours over the weekend in Dur

It was 5am on Saturday morning‚ when the ground become muddier and unstable. Zangwa screamed for help. Neighbours by her side‚ she pulled her 15-year-old daughter to safety. And then she kept digging to try get to Emmanuel.

But she was too late. The child was barely alive when he was pulled out of the rubble‚ but died shortly afterwards.

Zangwa was still devastated on Wednesday at the loss of her youngest child‚ but believes things could have been worse.

"Had I not got out to check outside to see what was making noise‚ I believe we would all be dead‚" she said.

Emmanuel was one of four people to have died as a result of the heavy weekend rains‚ with informal settlements - built on steep slopes along river banks - the worst hit.

Three people died in Chatsworth and one in Umlazi‚ while two other people are still missing. In large parts of KwaZulu-Natal‚ decades-long 24-hour rainfall records were broken. About 500 families have been left homeless and were‚ mostly‚ being accommodated in community halls.

City officials‚ including mayor James Nxumalo‚ visited the families to deliver food parcels and blankets‚ and to offer their condolences. He said teams were still assessing the extent of the damage‚ but estimated it could cost the city "millions" to deal with.

Nxumalo‚ who relayed Zangwa's heartbreaking story as neighbours looked on‚ said the conditions at Bottlebrush urgently needed attention. As he pointed towards a steep embankment that led into a river below‚ he said he feared the worst.

"If you look here‚ this [bank] could collapse at any time - and it has collapsed. If we get more rain it can collapse again. We need to move these people away or there will be another death‚" said Nxumalo.

He said that the provincial human settlements department and the municipality's Disaster Management Unit would work together to find solutions and new locations for the residents.