Others were evacuated after flood warnings were issued for various areas. Paramedics said two children drowned on Wednesday in the flooding of the Gola River in the Folweni area of KwaZulu-Natal. Earlier, three people died in Ladysmith floods where the heavy downpours cut off roads, uprooted trees, damaged bridges and marooned farms.
Cars were also damaged and shacks swept away. The town of Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal was without water after its pump systems broke down due to flooding.
Provincial spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said engineers were working on the problem.
Major dams
Warnings that other parts of the country could suffer a similar fate were issued by the national department of water affairs.
"Communities residing near the four major dams should exercise extreme caution, " spokesperson Linda Page said by noon.
These dams included the Vaal, Bloemhof, Gariep and Vanderkloof. Affected areas included Moretele, Hammanskraal, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Mamelodi, Nkandla, Nquthu, Winburg, Senekal, and parts of Mpumalanga.
Over 800 houses across KwaZulu-Natal have been affected by the floods. "The current persisting rain has affected at least 829 households all over the province during the past three days," KwaZulu-Natal Local Government MEC Nomusa Dube said.
Houses demolished
She warned that people living on the river banks of the Klip River in Ladysmith will be evacuated and the houses will be demolished.
"Lots of houses were damaged - especially in Driefontein. In one situation the house fell on one woman and she was lucky to survive," Dube told Sapa.
It started raining in the Ladysmith area on December 31 and resulted in one person being killed in Roosboom. The two other people died while trying to cross a stream in Ladysmith on Tuesday.
Tshwane
Tshwane in Gauteng was also one of the areas hard hit by heavy rains. The city's community safety spokesperson William Baloyi said several informal settlements in Mamelodi were affected and 8 469 shacks had been flooded.
"We are still assessing the worst cases (as) the bigger part of the area is inaccessible by vehicles." Baloyi described flooding in the affected areas as serious and said people needed to be evacuated.
"We are trying to move them into churches and available halls." He said a help centre had been set up in Stanza Bopape hall. The rains have also added pressure on the country's infrastructure including dams.
Outflow increasing
Over the past 24 hours, the Vaal Dam had reached a capacity of 105.5% and the outflow had increased substantially. The Bloemhof Dam was 101% full and was expected to increase outflow to 1 300m³ per second by 16:00, and 1 700m³ per second by 17:00 on Wednesday.
The Gariep Dam was at 109.8% full and the outflow was 1 600m³ per second while the Vanderkloof Dam reached the capacity of 105.8%.
Its outflow of 950m³ per second was expected to increase to 2 000m³ per second.
More rain
Senior weather forecaster at the SA Weather Service, Tshepo Ngobeni said 80% chances of rain were expected in the south-west of Limpopo and Mpumalanga on Thursday.
About 60% chance of thunder showers were forecast in Gauteng and some parts of the Free State.
"Our outlook shows that the rain will ease by Sunday in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Free State," said Ngobeni.
"What that means is that there will be normal thunder showers in the afternoon and in the evening."
In Johannesburg metro police warned motorists from driving in areas including the Golden highway, Main Road in Comptonville near Devland, and some roads in Soweto that included Nancefield, Klip Valley, Main and Elias Motsoaledi.
"Motorists are requested to avoid these roads and rather use alternative roads for now."
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Floods-5-dead-scores-displaced-20110105