Nine people have died in floods in South Africa since Christmas in the Limpopo province alone, AFP learned Thursday from local South African authorities.

As a sign of the severity of the damage, President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the disaster areas in the northeast of the country, which had been placed on maximum alert by the South African meteorological services.

These include the famous Kruger Park, which has had to evacuate some of its camps.

Neighboring Mozambique, also on alert, has also recorded "human losses", according to a statement from the president on Wednesday without further details.

"Nine people have been found dead," the spokesman for the Limpopo provincial government told AFP, specifying that this count was made at the start of the heavy rains on December 25.

"Twelve people were stranded in the village of Mbaula, near Kruger Park, due to the Letaba River overflowing, and to date, 190 people have been rescued," he added.

Images shared by the South African Defence Force show evacuations by helicopter, including from the village of Mbaula.

The famous Kruger Park, which attracts tourists who love wildlife, had to evacuate "six camps in the bush as well as some others with tents", the park's communications director, Rey Thakhuli, told AFP.

However, he assures that there were no deaths, despite the dramatic images of powerful floodwaters engulfing the park's bridges. Access to the reserve had been suspended for day visitors on Thursday.

Located downstream of the Limpopo River, Mozambique is evacuating populations in low-lying areas of many towns along its path, the National Institute for Disaster Management announced.

Although the southern summer is supposed to be the rainy season in these regions, the intensity of the rain contrasts sharply with the drought hitting the region near Cape Town, which has been affected by numerous fires.

"Our extreme summer is just a taste of the climate consequences that could await us if we do not act now," said James Reeler, climate specialist at WWF South Africa, in a statement.