Government declares National State of Disaster over floods

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a National State of Disaster to enable an intensive response to widespread flooding that has affected seven of the country's nine provinces.

According to a statement from the President's Office, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape have been most affected by the floods, brought on by heavy rainfall due to the La Niña weather phenomenon.

The North West University's Professor Livhuwane Nemakonde in the School of Geo- and Spatial Sciences explained two phenomena we experience: La Niña and El Niño. La Niña is currently causing heavy rains in certain parts of the country, whereas, with El Niño, the dry parts of the world experience more drought.