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Shipping at South Africa’s busiest port has been suspended following severe flooding in the KwaZulu-Natal province that has so far claimed 59 lives.

The flooding has devastated the province's roads, bridges and houses after five months of rain fell in just three days.

State-owned logistics company, Transnet, says the Durban port has been closed until further notice because of the environmental damage caused by the flooding.

Roads leading to the terminals are badly damaged and cannot be accessed.

A shipping container warehouse near a busy highway was severely flooded, and hundreds of containers were washed away by the raging waters.

The city of Durban has become the epicentre of the unfolding natural disaster, which is fast escalating to a humanitarian crisis.

Parts of the crucial N3 highway, which connects Durban to the economic heartland of Gauteng, have been blocked off.

Communications have also been disrupted. Two major telecoms companies have reported more than 900 of their mobile phone towers were down.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has cut short a trip to Mozambique to visit affected areas to assess the damage.