For two days the residents of Mpumalanga had to endure torrential downpours during tropical storm Eloise, causing landslides, damage to many houses and large sections of the N4 near Nelspruit were washed away.

Police divers along with rescue operators from Rescue SA and the Off Road Rescue Unit were called in to assist with the recoveries. They successfully managed to retrieve the body of a man who was swept away in the flood waters. He had been trying to cross a tributary of the Blyde River near Pilgrims Rest when he was washed away by fast flowing waters. Connor Hartnady of Rescue SA said they found the man near a channel.

Rescuers also recovered the body of a five-year-old child who was washed away near Masoyi. He had apparently been trying to cross a river when he was caught in rising flood waters.