KwaZulu-Natal authorities say the storm is one of the worst in South Africa's history.
Ron Naidoo, a community pastor in the town of Tongaat, told the BBC he had been kept awake through the night by the rising floodwaters and had seen police drag a car out of the river with a body inside.
Communications have also been disrupted with two major networks reporting that more than 900 of their cell phone towers are down.
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