Nineteen of 21 families relocated after January 2026 floods in Tshakhuma village, Limpopo, have returned to their damaged homes because the temporary accommodation lacked adequate food and scholar transport, according to GroundUp reporting republished by AllAfrica on 31 August 2026 and picked up by Sowetan on 1 September.
The families were moved to the Farm House Boutique Guest Lodge in Nkuna village, about 20 kilometres from Tshakhuma, on 24 January 2026 after flooding damaged homes in Ward 29 of Makhado Municipality. Residents told GroundUp that inadequate food and the absence of school transport made it impossible to stay at the lodge.
Ndivho Netshaulu, one of the affected residents, said private scholar transport was unaffordable on a social grant income. “There was no school transport and I could not pay R500 per sibling per month for private scholar transport. I live on social grants,” Netshaulu told GroundUp.
Limpopo education department spokesperson Mike Maringa said scholar transport for learners from the lodge to Tshiemuemu Secondary School and Luvhalani and Tshakhuma Madumbani primary schools was provided until 1 August 2026. It is unclear from available reporting why the arrangement ended on that date.
Tsekiso Machike, spokesperson for the Minister of Human Settlements, said the national department provided temporary emergency accommodation for 30 days, which was extended while alternative land was sourced. He said the municipality and province were responsible for transportation and daily meals.
“The municipality, in collaboration with the province, was to provide transportation as well as daily meals,” Machike told AllAfrica. The Department of Human Settlements said in January 2026 that flood-affected residents in Limpopo and Mpumalanga were being moved from mass care centres to temporary emergency accommodation such as guesthouses and lodges.
The South African Human Rights Commission said the floods disrupted the resumption of schooling in Limpopo and Mpumalanga through damaged infrastructure and unsafe travel routes. The commission’s concerns underline the broader human rights implications of the disaster response across both provinces.
Construction of temporary residential units has begun on land roughly two kilometres from the families’ original homes, according to Machike. Some residents, including Rebecca Lethabele, have chosen to remain at the lodge rather than risk returning to homes vulnerable to further flooding.
“I cannot go back to my original home as it is always stressful when it is the rainy season. It is better to wait for the temporary houses to be completed,” Lethabele told GroundUp. The exact number of families remaining at the lodge after the others returned is not independently verified.
The adequacy of food supplies described by residents has not been separately confirmed beyond the GroundUp account, and a claim that a restrictive curfew was imposed at the lodge could not be independently corroborated. Cape Flats News will seek confirmation from Makhado Municipality and the Limpopo provincial government on whether meal provision and transport services have resumed for the remaining families, with an update expected by 5 September 2026.