Cold front in Gauteng: Joburg Emergency Services on high alert

The City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services has advised residents that officials will be on high alert during the cold front expected to hit Gauteng.

After a week of scorching weather, Gauteng residents have been warned to brace for cold weather conditions from Tuesday.

“Early forecast suggests a cold front in Gauteng beginning early Tuesday,” Gauteng Weather tweeted.

Precautions

Joburg Emergency Services Robert Mulaudzi said they have noted with concern the warning of a cold front which is expected to hit most parts of the City of Johannesburg.

“[These] extremely cold temperatures will force most of our residents throughout the City of Johannesburg to use heating devices to try and warm themselves in the process leaving them vulnerable to fire incidents at home.

“Residents are urged to exercise caution when using heating devices not to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fire incidents at home during this cold front,” Mulaudzi said.

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Alert

Mulaudzi added officials will be on alert for any eventuality during the cold weather conditions.

“City of Joburg EMS remains on high alert monitoring all 7 regions of the City of Johannesburg targeting our most vulnerable communities our informal settlements to make sure that we can effectively respond to all emergencies which might occur during this cold front.

“Our disaster management monitoring teams are also on high alert in all 7 regions of the City of Johannesburg and all our 29 fire stations are fully operational to deal with all emergencies which might occur during this cold front,” Mulaudzi said.

Cold weather

According to the SA Weather Service’s (SAWS) forecast, temperatures in Johannesburg could drop to 17 °C with a minimum of 3 °C on Tuesday, while Pretoria is expected to hover around the 20 °C mark with a minimum of 5°C with windy conditions.

Vereeniging has also been forecast with a low of 2 °C on Tuesday and reaching a high of 16 °C with windy conditions.

The weather in Gauteng is expected to get warmer on Thursday, ahead of the weekend.

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