Three children had managed to escape the tragedy, and a search was ongoing to check whether other children could have been swept out of the bus, Mabuyane said.
Police reported that at least seven others had died in the province following heavy rainfalls and snow in the region, along with unseasonally low temperatures. Hundreds of people have lost their homes, and dozens are missing.
On Monday, two children sat trapped in a tree after their village was inundated within minutes, according to local media reports.
Rescue teams including divers had been in operation for more than 36 hours, police said.
To the north, heavy snowfalls in KwaZulu-Natal Province blocked a number of important roads, including the N2 motorway running from Cape Town to Durban. Kwazulu-Natal normally has subtropical weather conditions.
Eight of the country’s nine provinces have been hit by an unusually strong cold front, according to the South African weather office, with Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal bearing the brunt.
While snow does fall in high-lying regions in the South Africa during the Southern Hemisphere winter, heavy and widespread falls are unusual.
GNA
PDC