"There is a huge hole, about 25 metres wide and 50 metres deep on the N2, by the Pumba Game Reserve, between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown," said Captain John Fobian.

"The road has been closed off and traffic is being diverted from Port Elizabeth to the Cradock Road N10 around Cookhouse and back to Grahamstown or East London."

Before the road collapsed on Saturday, a truck which had been caught in the flooding, overturned and police, divers and a rescue team were called to save the passengers.

While they were still involved in the rescue, another car hit a pothole and collided with a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. One person died in the crash.

"It was then that the road gave way, as it was completely saturated from all the rain we've had since October 16," Fobian said.

The coastal road between Port Elizabeth, via Port Alfred, to East London was reopened at 7.30am on Sunday morning after landslides and flooding forced its closure on Saturday.

SABC reported that Kouga Municipality spokeswoman Laura-Leigh Randall said the Sand River bridge between Cape St Francis and St Francis Bay had been washed away and the water was still strongly flowing.

According to the broadcaster, she said a technical team had assessed the damage and said it would not be possible to construct a pedestrian bridge, but that people were crossing the river where the water was flowing less strongly.