South Africa Floods: Rescuers Continue Recovering Bodies as Death Toll Climbs to 86

The death toll from the floods in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province has increased to 86, as reported by the police minister on Saturday. Rescuers are still working to recover bodies from the floodwaters. Senzo Mchunu, the nation’s leading law enforcement official, addressed police rescue teams engaged in the search for missing individuals and the recovery of bodies around Mthatha, which was heavily impacted since the floods began early Tuesday morning.

Mchunu described the floods as a tragedy but urged local residents to disregard what he termed false information circulating on social media, suggesting that someone opened the sluice gates at a nearby dam, causing water to flood the communities. He clarified that the Mthatha Dam in question does not have sluice gates.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his visit to Mthatha on Friday, stated that an investigation would be conducted to determine if there were any issues with the local dam that could have contributed to the disaster.
Also read | Israel-Iran War Live Updates: Why Hezbollah and key allies of Iran are staying out of conflict?
According to the head of the provincial government, a wall of water reaching 3-4 meters in height surged from the river, sweeping away victims along with parts of their homes and trapping others inside.

Ramaphosa partially attributed the extreme rainfall and floods to climate change, noting that some coastal regions in South Africa are now consistently at risk of weather-related disasters. A study linked the deaths of over 400 people in flooding around Durban in 2022 to climate change.

The floods in the Mthatha area and a neighboring district caught many off guard, despite weather services having issued warnings last week about an impending cold front that would bring heavy rains and strong winds.

The predominantly rural region is among the country’s most impoverished, and authorities indicated that communities living in informal housing near the river were particularly susceptible when it overflowed. Officials have faced criticism regarding both the rescue efforts and the state of local infrastructure.

Authorities believe there are still individuals unaccounted for, and the death toll may rise as rescue teams continue to search through floodwaters and damaged properties for nearly a week. One of the bodies retrieved on Saturday was that of a boy, estimated to be around 13 or 14 years old.

Many children are included among the deceased, though officials have not provided an exact number. Some victims were found up to 2 kilometers away from their homes due to the floods.