The devastating floods left thousands homeless and infrastructure damaged. President Cyril Ramaphosa, some cabinet ministers and humanitarian organisations visited the flood affected areas on Friday to assess the damage.

Hlabisa says the death toll is 86 and is expected to rise, as the search for more bodies and the identification process of the deceased is still underway.

“There are some members of families who are still missing and the search and rescue is still on the ground and the opportunities are they are still going to discover these bodies. From next week, we should be talking about how to lay these people to rest in a respectful manner as the premier has declared a day of mourning on Thursday and hopefully over the weekend families will want to lay their loved ones,” Hlabisa said.

--SABC—