National Disaster Declared After Severe Floods

The government has officially declared a national disaster in response to catastrophic severe weather and flooding that have affected several provinces since late December 2025.

The classification was confirmed in a statement issued by National Disaster Management Centre, with its head, Elias Sithole, citing the scale and severity of the destruction as the basis for the decision.

The declaration follows weeks of torrential rain, lightning and damaging winds that have ravaged Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and the North West.

In the official directive, Sithole said the widespread impact of the severe weather left the authorities with no option but to escalate the response.

“I regard this occurrence as a disaster and, in terms of Section 23(1)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, I classify the disaster as a national disaster,” he stated.

He noted that the prolonged severe weather has resulted in the loss of life, extensive damage to homes, public infrastructure and the environment, as well as major disruptions to basic services such as electricity, water supply and access to healthcare and education.

With the declaration now in place, the primary responsibility for coordinating and managing the disaster response shifts to the National Executive. This enables the mobilisation of additional resources and allows for a more coordinated response across national, provincial and local spheres of government.

Sithole has called on all organs of state to strengthen their support to disaster management structures and to ensure that contingency and emergency plans are fully activated to address the ongoing effects of flooding.

The National Disaster Management Centre will oversee a multi-sectoral relief and rehabilitation programme aimed at supporting affected communities, restoring essential services and beginning the long process of rebuilding damaged infrastructure across the impacted provinces.