As SA mops up, disaster threatens Mozambique

Authorities in Mozambique fear an outbreak of disease as the death toll from flooding nears 40 and more than 80000 are without homes.

Members of the SA National Defence Force are in the area to assist with rescue operations. Spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga said the team included divers and health professionals and the air force had also deployed two helicopters and a C130 transport aircraft with supplies.

The emergency comes as mopping-up operations continued in large parts of Limpopo, where 12 people were killed in flooding over the past week.

The UN yesterday said the death toll in the southern parts of Mozambique had reached 36 and at least 80000 were displaced - and warned that these figures could rise sharply.

The areas hardest hit by flooding, caused by torrential rains over the past week, are Gaza province and the districts of Guija and Chokwe, where relief workers are supplying temporary accommodation, food, water and medicine.

The central provinces of Mozambique had up to 500mm of rain in just 12 days, more than the usual average for the first three months of the year.

The coastal town of Xai-Xai, which is popular with tourists, prepared for a possible massive influx of water.

"The water is coming into the city. It is just starting. Some roads in the lower part of town are under water," said Mozambican government spokesman Joao Carlos.

"Today the situation is not very good."

Towns such as Chokwe remain submerged. Thousands of homes have been destroyed and key services such as banks, shops, schools and hospitals have been disrupted .

In the capital Maputo, several bridges, roads and schools have been seriously damaged. The cost of repairs in the capital alone is expected to be about $30-million, according to UN agencies.

Humanitarian workers are now struggling to provide food and shelter before an anticipated outbreak of cholera, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

In Limpopo, meanwhile, the spokesman for the provincial department of cooperative governance, Dieketseng Diale, said 877 people had been rescued by emergency services.

The provincial government was still counting the cost of the damage, which is expected to run into tens of millions of rands. Repairs will be needed to 42 bridges, 14 roads and 19 schools.

Diale said that once detailed reports of damage suffered in different areas were complete, a decision would be made by the national government on whether to declare it a disaster area.

A rescue operation of a different sort continued in the province yesterday - a crocodile catcher had his hands full. Zane Langman of Rakwena crocodile farm and a crew of 20 people have been trying to catch at least 7000 crocodiles that escaped during the floods. By late Friday about 2000 had been recaptured, Langman said.

Elvis Malatji, whose nephew Dance Manyama, 16, drowned when he was swept away in a river near Munghonghoma village in Giyani, said the family was devastated.

Manyama and his friend, Bophelo Sisa, went to the river after school on Tuesday to fish.

"He was such a good boy and used to play DJ for the community," Malatji said. "It was terrible to see his body being recovered ... everyone is really sad."

In Mpumalanga, flooding hit the Komatipoort area. Police divers on Friday finally found the bodies of traffic officer Israel Ndlovu and a civilian whose car was swept off a bridge six days earlier. - Additional reporting by Sapa-AFP and Reuters