OWN CORRESPONDENT | Wednesday 7.00pm
HEAVY rains which wracked Mpumalanga, the Northern Province and Gauteng over the past few days, killing at least 27 people and leaving scores missing and hundreds of thousands homeless had abated by late Wednesday.
However the Weather Bureau has warned that more rain could fall before the weekend.
In Mpumalanga, police said overworked emergency services rescued at least 253 people, including 156 tourists, from flooded areas.
Initial estimates of flood damage to key government infrastructure in the province run in excess of R250-million.
There are concerns that thousands of rural residents in the province may be running out of food after all roads to the region were cut off by the heavy flooding.
Authorities have also warned of an outbreak of cholera, typhoid and malaria.
Thousands of people in all three provinces have been left without power and water after water pumps were washed away by raging rivers.
A string of Mpumalanga towns along the Crocodile River are without fresh drinking water after their pumps and water purification plants were swept away by floods, while areas north of Johannesburg reported no water or power on Wednesday morning.
Police have confirmed 30 deaths, with the number expected to rise as reports trickle in of those missing.
At Diepsloot, north-west of Johannesburg, 300 shacks were under water after a stream came down in flood on Tuesday night, police said.
Several roads in and around Johannesburg were closed for traffic due to flooding.
Emergency services and police divers are on standby in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg after the Jukskei River burst its banks and washed away several homes. Residents were evacuated to higher areas.
The Mpumalanga’s Park Board announced it has closed all hiking trails and other facilities in its Blyde River Canyon and nearby Swadini game reserves. The closures follow earlier announcements that the Kruger National Park has suspended all bookings for its three largest and most popular camps.
Mozambique’s heaviest rains in 40 years have cut roads to the borders with South Africa and Swaziland.