Riverlands floods: Matriculant shares journey to passing matric after losing everything

CAPE TOWN - A teenager from Riverlands has told Eyewitness News how she overcame the adversity of losing everything in last year's floods to pass her matric.

Eighteen-year-old Charisse Kay and her mother lost their home when floods caused by the collapse of four nearby dams wreaked havoc on 8 August 2024.

More than 200 people were left destitute and sought shelter at local community centres, and with friends and relatives.

However, after more than five months since the disaster affected families will finally move into new structures erected in the area before the end of the week.

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Kay, who sat for her final matric exams three months after the devastating floods turned her life upside down. She managed to soldier on to a bachelor pass.

She said she was uprooted from her mother a few weeks after losing their home and moved to a student hostel at Schoonspruit Secondary School, in Malmesbury, to prepare for her exams.

"For me, it was a decision between, do I dwell on what I lost, or do I pick myself up and towards what I want. A few weeks after the floods I just prayed, and I asked God to help me get over the things I lost."
  
She said she wants to study business at the University of the Western Cape and make her dreams come true.