Two people dead, one missing as floods sweep through Tshwane [VIDEOS]

It has been a busy weekend in Tshwane with floods experienced in areas following heavy downpours of rain.

Two people lost their lives in the floods, while one is still missing.

Social media was flooded with videos of floods across Gauteng including dramatic footage of water rising to about knee-high in Tembisa, fast-moving water in Ivory Park and flooded properties across Pretoria.  

City of Tshwane Emergency Management Services spokesperson Lindsay Zwelithini Mnguni confirmed emergency personnel and police are currently searching for a man who was swept away in a river in Centurion near the SuperSport Park cricket stadium.  

“The man ran into the river after being chased by a security guard and was believed to be swept away by the [water],” he said.

Mnguni said EMS rescued several people from incidents that occurred in different locations on Friday because of the floods in Centurion.

“The first incident was reported to the emergency communication centre (ECC) at about 21:45, as a drowning at the corner of Rabie Street and End Street. On arrival, the firefighters found that a car with two occupants was stuck in the river. They immediately began with rescue operations and successfully rescued the two people from the stuck car who were unharmed and had not sustained any injuries,” he said.

“The second incident was reported to the ECC at about 22:10. The ECC had to divert and reroute some of the resources from the initial incident to the corner of Albert Street and Nellmapius Drive, in Irene Country Estate. On arrival, the firefighters found that a car with two occupants was also stuck in the river. They immediately rescued the patients, who were also unharmed.”

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Mnguni said the third incident was also reported near SuperSport Park, where firefighters found a car and a motorcycle that had been swept away by the strong river currents.

“The firefighters and rescuers from our fire and rescue operations division, together with the divers from the South African Police Service, and the Gauteng Emergency Medical Services, conducted a search and rescue operation where they found a female patient who had swum to safety on the riverbank,” he said.

“Sadly, the motorcyclist and the driver of the car were both found deceased and were recovered from the river by the rescuers. The crews also located and rescued another patient, at about 23:08, who was holding on to a lamp pole that was engulfed by the overflowing waters from the river, near the Centurion Lake Hotel. This patient was also not injured,” he said.

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Lehlohonolo Thobela, from the South African Weather Service (Saws), said there was a 30% chance of rain on Christmas over the interior part of the country with the possibility of afternoon thundershowers.

“On Monday we can still expect a 60% chance of showers over the interior and the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo and the North West. These showers will become widespread, which means there will then be an 80% chance of rain over KZN which could lead to a yellow level-2 warning for disruptive rain and localised flooding.

“Severe thunderstorms are also possible over parts of the North West with damaging winds and possibility of hail,” he said.

Thobela said that scattered showers and thundershowers were expected over Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo on Tuesday.

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