TRANDED SPEAKER AIRLIFTED

MPUMALANGA legislature speaker William Lubisi had to be airlifted to Nelspruit for the ceremonial opening of the House on Friday after floods stranded him 40km away in the rural village of Pienaar. Lubisi arrived just in the nick of time but the crowd of spectators waiting to hear whether Mpumalanga will get disaster flood funding were disappointed when Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu made only fleeting reference to the devastating floods. Mahlangu called on the private sector to help rebuild damaged infrastructure but did not say whether the province would apply for national disaster funding to repair the estimated R250-million damages.