Overview
- Rescue teams have recovered at least 57 bodies since floodwaters inundated Mthatha and surrounding districts on June 10, with officials warning the toll could rise as searches press on.
- A school bus carrying high school students was swept into a swollen river, killing six pupils, the driver and a conductor while four learners remain unaccounted for.
- Heavy rain, gale-force winds and rare winter snow washed away hundreds of homes and damaged at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals across the rural Eastern Cape.
- Hundreds of families have taken refuge in community centers, facing urgent needs for food, blankets and clean water as temperatures remain low.
- South African National Defence Force units have joined provincial emergency services to lead search operations and deliver food, shelter and medical supplies.