Low temperatures are expected across Gauteng. Photo: iStock
As temperatures plummet across Gauteng, emergency services have urged residents to take extra precaution when using heating appliances to keep warm.
Johannesburg has been enveloped with cold weather conditions from Monday, forcing residents to get their blankets out ahead of winter.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) on Monday warned that Gauteng will experience cool to cold conditions with isolated showers and thundershowers.
The temperatures tweeted by Gauteng Weather include Johannesburg at lows of 9°C reaching highs of 20°C with rain.
Pretoria was also expected to be much cooler with a minimum of 11°C and a high of 22°C also with rain.
Johannesburg Emergency Services (EMS) Robert Mulaudzi said they have taken note of the cold weather conditions and are on high alert for any incidents that may occur.
“It’s extremely cold in most parts of the City of Johannesburg. Residents are urged to look after all heating devices as an when they are trying to warm themselves.
“We, therefore, would like to urge all our residents to use all heating devices safely including heaters, imbawula, paraffin stoves and candles, and not to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fires at home during these extremely cold temperatures,” Mulaudzi said.
ALSO READ: Cold weather, with isolated showers and thundershowers expected in Gauteng
Mulaudzi said Joburg Emergency Services will be monitoring all seven regions of the city.
“We remain on high alert monitoring all regions especially our most vulnerable communities to fire incidents which is our informal settlements throughout the City of Johannesburg.”
Meanwhile, the cold weather conditions are likely to add more pressure on the already strained electricity grid.
Ailing state-owned parastatal Eskom on Monday pushed stage 6 load shedding an hour earlier than anticipated due to cold weather driving up electricity demand.
“Due to the cold weather, the demand for electricity is higher than anticipated. In addition, the failure of two generating units, one of which has since returned to service, requires that stage 6 load shedding be implemented at 3pm today (previously communicated 4pm).”
On Saturday, during a visit to KwaZulu-Natal, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that South Africa is going to experience a cold and dark winter.
Ramaphosa said Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa was working hard to solve the problem.
“We are not the only country in the world that is struggling with electricity, many other countries around the world have got one or some energy generation challenge,” he said.
ALSO READ: Energy transition plan not well received
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