South Africa: At least 101 dead in Eastern Cape floods as rescue efforts continue

The official death toll in South Africa's devastating floods remains unclear as rescue efforts for missing people continue in the Eastern Cape province.

Authorities said last week that 101 people had died but this number is likely to increase.

Victims include 38 children. The youngest fatality is an infant about 12 months old. Seven bodies remain unidentified and search operations are ongoing for two missing children.

The OR Tambo and Amathole districts were the hardest hit areas.

“This moment will be recorded among the most agonising chapters in our province’s history”, Eastern Cape provincial government official Zolile Williams said in a statement.

“While we have borne witness to tragedies that claimed the lives of our people before, this one resonates on a profoundly deeper level, it wounds the very foundation of our hearts.”

The Eastern Cape provincial government extended its condolences to the victims’ families.

Extreme weather hit the province between June 9 and 10. Heavy rain caused by a cold front turned into floods that swept away victims and their houses, trapped others in their homes, strongly damaged infrastructure and cut electricity supplies.

Electricity has been restored to over 80% of affected customers and more than 95% of the water supply having been restored in the OR Tambo and Amathole Districts, according to Williams.

Local authorities said an estimated R5.1 billion (about $290 million) would be needed to repair damaged infrastructure.

South Africa has declared a state of national disaster, allowing the government to release funding for relief services.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the worst affected sites on 13 June and blamed the heavy rains and catastrophic floods on climate change.

Climatic phenomena, such as the El Niño phase, caused "a series of extreme weather events" on the African continent last year, the World Meteorological Organization found in its 2024 State of the Climate in Africa report.

Another cold front hit South Africa's Western Cape province last week, bringing days of rain and causing flooding in and around the city of Cape Town.