“The visits will take place over three days, and will cover all provinces in an effort to re-assess the extent of the damages incurred in particularly the 33 municipalities declared as disaster areas, and any other affected villages and towns,” said the department.

A consolidation of the initial assessments by provinces has put the cost of the damages at over a billion rand.

The department said the visits were also in preparation for engineers to verify the provincial assessments and determine the financial impact caused by the current floods so far.

Meanwhile, the department said current estimates indicate that from mid-December to 1 February 2011, about 91 people had lost their lives as a result of all the forms of natural disasters that have struck in various areas of the country, including severe storms, lightning and floods.

More than 13 000 houses were damaged while the estimated number of reported injuries stood at 321. Additional damage has been incurred to public infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, clinics and churches.