Severe weather claims 10 lives around the country

Two men seen at a flooded area.

The National Disaster Management Centre says 10 people have died due to the recent severe weather battering several provinces in the country.

The government has officially classified the situation as a national disaster.

The declaration follows widespread flooding, storms, damaging winds and snowfall affecting the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga.

“Currently, we’re sitting at 10 fatalities across all the provinces. One life is too much, but looking back at what has occurred in the previous disaster in the Eastern Cape last year, one can say we managed to be proactive and save lives by evacuating those who were at risk to place them in the temporary emergency shelters, which are currently active in the Eastern Cape only,” says Acting Head of the Centre Thabo Khupari.

The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre says the Vygieskraal Canal in Belgravia in Athlone has begun to overflow. Spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, has urged residents to be cautious.

She says the adverse weather conditions will persist until Tuesday.

“Fallen trees, blocked and flooded roads and electricity outages have made up the bulk of the service calls and given the prevailing forecast we expect more impacts as the day progresses. We ask that the public please exercise extreme care and to remain off the roads where possible.”

Weather forecast for today: 11 May 2026.
Cloudy & cold conditions are expected over the western parts of RSA, with scattered to widespread rain & showers. Otherwise partly cloudy & cool. #saws #weatheroutlook #southafricanweather pic.twitter.com/csowLBD95F

— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) May 11, 2026

Humanitarian aid organisation Gift of the Givers says it is providing assistance to about six-thousand Cape Town residents affected by the storm.

A second cold front has made landfall with gale force winds and heavy rain.

Gift of the Givers Project Manager, Ali Sablay, “Our teams have been on the ground from 6am this morning doing assessments we are currently here at Lwandle hostels you can see the devastation is not only to informal structures but to a block of flats the roof has been blown off.”