Tuesday night's severe storm in Dullstroom injured 11 people, destroyed five houses and damaged a school, the Mpumalanga housing department said on Wednesday.
The storm is believed to have been a tornado.
Department spokesperson Simphiwe Kunene said a preliminary report indicated that three people were seriously injured and others had minor injuries.
"The report also indicates that three houses were totally destroyed, five houses were partially damaged, one secondary school was damaged, one shop had its roof partially damaged and two guest houses had their roofs blown off."
The Nkangala District Municipality provided tents for the affected families, and the Emakhazeni Municipality provided blankets. The department of health and social services will provide food parcels, said Kunene.
Kunene thanked the Dullstroom business community for its assistance. A joint operations committee is monitoring the situation. The department's disaster toll free number is 0800-202507.
Earlier the SA Weather Service said meteorologists were assessing damage and radar data from the storm to decide whether it was a tornado.
Weather SA assistant manager for forecasting, Kevin Rae, said it was "entirely possible" that it was a tornado. - Sapa