Johanessburg – A week after three-year-old Everite Chauke was swept away by the rushing Jukskei river the search party has still not found the little girl.
Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Nana Radebe on Wednesday said: “Everite Chauke has not been found and is still missing”.
Little Everite was swept away when heavy rains swelled the Jukskei river in Alexandra on Wednesday. Her father Shadrick Chauke, whose shack is on the river bank, had climbed up a tree with her to seek refuge from the floods. Unfortunately, the branch they were holding onto broke and little Everite fell into the water.
The Chaukes were one of the many families left homeless as the river burst its banks and swept shacks away in one of the worst storms to hit Johannesburg last week Wednesday.
As many as seven people were reported to have died as a result of the flash floods.
At the weekend rescuers recovered the body of a woman who was six months pregnant. Her car had been swept away in flash floods on Wednesday.
President Jacob Zuma visited the flood ravaged Setjwetla area in Alexandra on Tuesday and assured affected residents the government was “doing everything it could to help them”.
Accompanied by Gauteng Premier David Makhura and Cooperative Governance Minister David van Rooyen, Zuma also spoke to the parents of the missing three-year-old girl.
“What has happened to the Chauke family is such a painful incident. We conveyed condolences to the parents,” said Zuma.
Radebe said the search for little Everite was continuing.
– African News Agency
