The death toll from the recent floods that have ravaged the Eastern Cape has now climbed to 88, as emergency services and humanitarian organisations continue intensive operations to locate missing persons. With families still desperately scouring local morgues for their loved ones, the scale of devastation has only begun to emerge.
The catastrophic weather system, which struck the region in the early hours of Tuesday morning, brought torrential rain that led to widespread flooding across Mthatha and its surrounding areas. The floods overwhelmed communities, swept away infrastructure, and left many homeless, injured, or dead.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu confirmed the rising toll on Sunday, after a meeting with rescue teams and law enforcement. The figure marks a significant increase from the previously reported 78 casualties just a day earlier.
Gift of the Givers, a South African humanitarian aid organisation, has been actively involved in the search operations. Ahmed Bham, who leads the organisation’s search and rescue division, described the ongoing efforts to locate those still unaccounted for.
“We have a multi-disciplinary search and rescue team consisting of the South African Police Service, Department of Health and Gift of the Givers. We said over the next two days, we are going to intensify our searches, and we are lucky to have the (SAPS) airwing assisting us. We were in the flight as well to look at the Mthatha Dam, flying to the rivers, when we recovered two bodies at the same place yesterday (Saturday),”
said Bham during an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
He further elaborated on the discovery of a third body during aerial surveillance operations:
“While hovering and doing our searches we saw that something was odd in the water. We sent in our rescue diver and he confirmed that it was a third body. Our other teams are working around the Mthatha River quite intensively with the ‘crocs’ – the boats that they use in this type of situation, along the river on both sides, combing the area with K9s.”
Despite the tragic numbers, more than 38 individuals have been rescued so far, according to South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Athlenda Mathe, who noted that recovery efforts are still underway.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-affected communities on Friday. During his visit, he offered condolences to those who have lost loved ones and acknowledged the overwhelming scale of the disaster.
The President also visited the collapsed Efata Bridge in Mthatha, where a devastating accident occurred involving a taxi carrying schoolchildren. The vehicle was swept away by floodwaters, resulting in the deaths of six learners, the driver, and the conductor. Several other passengers remain unaccounted for.
While the loss of life continues to climb, many families have found themselves in a harrowing state of uncertainty—searching for closure, battling against fading hope as authorities retrieve bodies from fast-moving waters and muddy banks.
Rescue teams have indicated that the operations will continue over the coming days, with particular focus on riverine areas where victims may have been carried far from their last known locations.
As the Eastern Cape grapples with the aftermath, the collective grief has been accompanied by a growing call for more effective disaster preparedness and infrastructural resilience in flood-prone regions.
