The worst of the rainfall and flooding is over for now, says weather service

After days of heavy rainfall that resulted in flooding in several areas, the SA Weather Service (Saws) on Tuesday said the worst was over.

"The system that resulted in heavy rain and flooding over the north-eastern provinces over the past week is expected to move out of the country tomorrow [Wednesday]," said the national forecaster.

It added that there were "no weather alerts" issued for Wednesday.

The recent rains resulted in flooding in several parts of the country, where vehicles and shacks were swept away, leaving scores of people displaced.

On Monday the SA Air Force had to be roped in to airlift scores of people who found themselves stranded in a Pretoria hotel, where their vehicles had also washed away.

The recent rains also led to a halt in operations at some mines.

The wet weather contributed to Eskom escalating load-shedding to stage 6, plunging large parts of the country into darkness on Monday. The ailing power utility reported that some of its coal supply was wet and some of its power stations experienced flooding.

At least one person was reported to have died in the flooding.