French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe's official visit to South Africa has been cancelled at the last minute following the resignation of his colleague, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's office confirmed that the visit, set down for Thursday and Friday, had been "postponed indefinitely due to unforeseen circumstances".

French sources said Philippe would take temporarily take over Collomb's functions until President Emmanuel Macron appointed a new interior minister.

Philippe had been due to brief investors about Macron's pro-business reforms and to oversee the signing of bilateral agreements with the South African government.