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The Department of Provincial and Local Government will send two helicopters and water purification plants to provide relief to flood-stricken Mozambicans at the end of this week.

This is addition to water and wind resistant tents that were delivered to flood victims on Monday.

The aircraft would be able to offer Mozambique 170 hours' flying time.

Spokesperson for the department Luzuko Koti told BuaNews Wednesday, that the victims of floods earlier this month and more recently a cyclone in Mozambique, were in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

"The goods will be flown to Mozambique later this week, possibly on Friday as we are still waiting for the assessment report from members of the South African Defence Force (SANDF) who are already in Mozambique to assess the situation," he said.

Discussions about a field hospital, he said, were underway with the health department and the SANDF.

This comes after the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Sydney Mufamadi, who is responsible for disaster management, and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad, visited Mozambique to determine the nature of support required there.

This is in the wake of Tropical Cyclone, Favio which struck southern parts of the country - destroying properties.

Flavio hit Mozambique last week while earlier floods had already forced 140,000 from their homes.

Mozambican news agency AIMS on Tuesday reported that residents in the southern region were slowly rebuilding their lives, although there was still no electricity in Vilankulu, apart from those institutions with generators.

At least 10 people were killed as a result of Cyclone Favio.

Vilankulu's central market collapsed as did many of the houses there, which are built from bamboo and straw.

AIMS also reports that airport has been reopened to traffic, but added that night use is risky since the runway lights are not operating.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza visited Vilankulu on Monday to make his own assessment on the extent of the damage caused by Favio.

Briefing Guebuza on the disaster, Inhambane provincial governor Francisco Itai Meque said the cyclone had also swept through Inhassoro and Govuro districts, and part of Massinga.

Six people from the four Inhambane Districts have been reported dead and other four deaths have been reported from Sofala province.

There were 79 known injuries, 50 of them in Vilankulo.

Ms Itai Meque put the number of people affected by the Cyclone Favio at 133 670, of whom 102 500 will be in need of food aid.

"Thousands of people have lost their homes. 5 906 peasant homes and 692 conventional buildings were destroyed or damaged," she said.

The Vilankulo District Hospital suffered severe damage to its roof, and 17 health posts and centres in the province were also damaged.

The education system in the province was shaken with 332 classrooms, 12 boarding centres and 130 teachers' houses damaged.

"The cyclone has temporarily closed 265 companies, with the potential loss of 6,000 jobs," she said.

President Guebuza praised the citizens of Vilankulo for not giving up, but rather choosing to immediately start rebuilding their lives.

The local authorities had set up accommodation centres for those made homeless - but found that rather than waiting for handouts, Vilankulo residents had already begun building new houses.

"They don't go to the centres and wait for people to give them things. They may go there to sleep, but they are reorganising their lives.

"Mozambicans are able to face difficult situations such as the cyclone. The nature of our people is not to despair, and this gives us pride," the president said.