Footage on state broadcaster SABC showed cars trying to drive through torrents of water that had submerged highways. Several media reported that hundreds of homes had been washed away in the iron-roof informal settlements just outside the city, especially the Mdantsane township.
Scientists suspect that climate change is the cause of worsening floods and droughts along the country's eastern coastline, where the city of roughly half a million lies.
In 2019, the Department of Environment drew up a plan for South Africa to adapt to climate change, which includes strengthening its preparedness to respond more quickly to weather disasters and help victims recover.