South African National Sea Rescue Institute and the SA Navy Monday warned Monday against highwaves along the eastern KwaZulu-Natal Coast and parts of the Eastern Cape following tsunamis which killed over 22,000 in Asia.

The tidal waves also affected Africa, thousands kilometers awayfrom Asia. Local television SABC news reported that beaches had been flooded at Coffee Bay and Port St. Johns.

In KwaZulu-Natal, ski boats and diving boats had been evacuatedat Sodwana Bay following high swells.

South African government said it is coordinating an evacuation flight to tourist island of Phuket in Thailand for stranded South Africans.

The Foreign Affairs Department said officials, doctors and paramedics will be on a flight which is expected to leave on Tuesday.

Two South Africans have been confirmed killed in Phuket island off Thailand, following gigantic earthquake and subsequent huge tidal waves that hit Southeast Asia on Sunday.

Two South Africans are still missing in Chennai, India. Two others who were missing in Sri Lanka have been located. At least 300 South Africans are believed to be stranded in Thailand.

A rescue team will fly to Phuket on Tuesday morning to bring back 198 South Africans, said Mande Toubkin, the Netcare 911 spokesperson.

A Boeing 747 plane, on loan from Nationwide airlines, will leave Johannesburg International Airport at 11 am (0900 GMT) Tuesday. "We are sending five doctors, five nurses and two paramedics," Toubkin said.

The tidal waves struck Asian coasts on Sunday as a huge undersea Sumatra earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale,triggered tsunamis in south and southeast Asia.

At least 22,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand Malaysia and Somalia have been killed by the waves.

The magnitude of the disaster has made it difficult for officials to locate people. Additional staff will be sent to the South African embassy in Bangkok to help with the operation.