The last known figure stood at 435 more than two weeks ago.

Police Minister Bheki Cele announced the latest developments while addressing search and rescue teams in Durban on Friday. 

This while 89 people are still missing - more than a month after the disaster struck. 

While the province continues to pick up the pieces from last month's devastating events - some families are still grappling with the loss of their relatives.

Others are still sifting through rubble, dams and rivers.

The picture that Cele painted provided little comfort as he warned more natural disasters are likely to hit again, more vicious than the 2019 and 2022 floods.

"We are not about to be out of these disasters, therefore we better be prepared," he said.

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Cele urged government to ramp up response systems, calling for more alertness, agility, and coordination. 

"There should be a better national coordination of these things," he said.

"They need to act in the shortest possible time with the maximum outcomes so it would be important that we speak to the coordination department, that would be Cogta [Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs], but the police and the rescue teams put the suggestion that we need to keep these teams better equipped, better alert, better agile and better ready for what might be even worse in the future," Cele warned.

He added the country's search and rescue units would soon be sent abroad to learn international best practices in a bid to ensure the country isn't caught on the back foot in future.