Date: 15 – 18 January 2026
SARZA Regions: Limpopo, Gauteng
Collaborating Organizations: SAPS Water Police, SAPS K9 SAR, SAPS Airwing, local SAPS, Limpopo EMS, Disaster Management, SANDF, Rocket HEMS, Thaba Fire Rescue, Mogalakwena Fire Rescue, NSRI, Gift of the Givers, numerous other volunteer organisations.
SARZA Members Deployed: LP – 5, GP – 9
Excessive rainfall in the northern regions of South Africa has caused numerous rivers to overflow, resulting in widespread destruction and devastation. Many communities have been completely cut off from essential services; some families have lost all their worldly possessions, and tragically, others have lost their lives or loved ones.
SARZA’s Limpopo and Gauteng teams formed part of a multidisciplinary response, assisting affected communities in Mbaula and Giyani. Our teams assisted with coordinating rescue efforts, providing logistical, communication, and incident command (IC) support, evacuating stranded persons, recovering stranded emergency vehicles, and conducting river searches in the hope of providing closure to families who lost loved ones.
We extend our sincere thanks to Maphutha Malatje Hospital for providing a base of operations, and to Gift of the Givers for supplying food parcels to the rescue teams.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have suffered so immensely during this tragic time.
#SoOthersMayLive #SARZA #LimpopoFloods #SouthAfricaFloods #SearchAndRescue #DisasterResponse #StrongerTogether #RescueTeams
