At least 49 people have died in flooding in South Africa with toll
expected to rise, officials say
[June 12, 2025]
By MICHELLE GUMEDE and GERALD IMRAY
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 49 people were confirmed dead Wednesday as
floods devastated one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, and officials
said the toll was expected to rise as more bodies are recovered in the
search for missing people.
The floods hit the largely rural Eastern Cape province in the southeast
of the country early Tuesday after an especially strong weather front
brought heavy rains, gale force winds and also snow in some parts.
“As we speak here, other bodies are being discovered,” Eastern Cape
Premier Oscar Mabuyane told reporters at a briefing, adding that it was
one of the worst weather-related disasters his province had experienced.
“I have never seen something like this,” he said.
The death toll included six high school students who were washed away
when their school bus was caught in floodwaters on Tuesday near a river
close to the town of Mthatha, which was especially hard hit and at the
center of the worst flooding. Four other students were among the
missing, Mabuyane said.
Authorities found the school bus earlier Wednesday, but it was empty.
Three of the students were rescued on Tuesday when they were found
clinging to trees and crying out for help, the provincial government
said.
A driver and another adult who were on the bus with the schoolchildren
were among the dead.
Search and rescue operations would continue for a third day on Thursday,
authorities said, though they didn't give details on how many people
might still be missing. They said they were working with families to
find out who was still unaccounted for.
Disaster response teams have been activated in Eastern Cape province and
the neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province after the torrential rain and
snow hit parts of southern and eastern South Africa over the weekend.
Mabuyane said there had also been reports of mudslides.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the National Disaster
Management Center was also working with local authorities in the Eastern
Cape, the province that took the brunt of the extreme cold front that
weather forecasters had warned was on its way last week. There were
unusually large snowfalls in parts of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and
the Free State province in South Africa’s interior.
[to top of second column]
|
Rescue workers transport a person in a body bag during a rescue
operation after floods swept through the area, in Mthatha, South
Africa, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hoseya Jubase)
Ramaphosa offered his condolences to the affected families in the
Eastern Cape in a statement from his office and described the situation
as “devastation.”
Power outages have affected hundreds of thousands of homes in the
Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Eastern Cape provincial government officials said hundreds of families
were left homeless and in temporary shelters in that province after
their houses were washed away or broken apart, while at least 58 schools
and 20 hospitals were damaged by the floods, which mostly affected
Mthatha and the surrounding district.
Other houses were left submerged under water. Cars and debris that were
carried away by the floods were left strewn in piles as the rain stopped
and the water began to subside.
South Africa is vulnerable to strong weather fronts that blow in from
the Indian and Southern Oceans. In 2022, more than 400 people died in
flooding caused by prolonged heavy rains in the east coast city of
Durban and surrounding areas.
Poor areas with informal housing are often the worst affected and where
the majority of fatalities occur.
___
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
