Lightning couple had planned to marry

Durban -

A couple who died with their two children when they were struck by lightning while trying to seek cover from a storm in Pietermaritzburg, had been planning to get married, a relative said yesterday.

Ndumiso Mlaba, 22, his girlfriend Ntombiningi Mbhele, 20, and their children – two-year-old Elihle and Senamile, who was two months old – were walking in an open field in KwaNxamalala when tragedy struck.

Mlaba’s mother, Thobile Mlaba, said yesterday it was hard to believe she would never see them again.

“The lightning was not even that bad. I always hear of incidents like these, but I never thought it would happen to me,” she said.

Ndumiso was walking with his family to their home on Tuesday

and would have left them later to work the night shift at a local bar.

As they walked through the field, the storm broke out.

”I didn’t believe until I got to the scene and saw their bodies. Then it hit me,” said Mlaba, who was alerted by a relative.

“The ironic thing is that he [Ndumiso] always said if he were to die, he didn’t want to leave his children behind, and that is exactly what happened.”

Mlaba said the couple were planning to get married.

Netcare 911 spokesman, Chris Botha, said the family sustained severe burns from the lightning strike.

This time last year, more than 20 people died in lightning-related incidents in KwaZulu-Natal.

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube said the latest deaths were a “tragic beginning” to the summer season. - Daily News

slindile.maluleka@inl.co.za