A motorist drives through a flooded section of road after heavy rainfall in Centurion, 10 November 2020. Picture: Jacques Nelles
About 14 people lost their lives in Gauteng as heavy rains hit the province at the weekend, which also caused damage to infrastructure, homes, roads and cars.
According to Gauteng Traffic Police spokesperson Sello Maremane, the fatalities were recorded from multiple crashes in the province, with one incident involving the three deaths in a truck accident on the R41, Witpoortjie, Roodepoort, on Sunday.
It is alleged that the truck had swerved to avoid a stationary taxi and rolled into a number of people on the side of the road around 2:22pm, leaving three dead and 12 people sustaining minor to serious injuries.
The South African Weather Service had earlier issued a warning of thundershowers across Gauteng on Friday afternoon.
Heavy rain had led to major traffic backups, flooded roads and bridges, vehicles being swept away, uprooted trees and flooded houses.
Emergency services and disaster management teams were on high alert as low-lying bridges saw localised flooding, with firefighters working hard to clear debris in Pretoria.
At least four cars were stuck in water, with the occupants managing to get to safety. A house reportedly flooded in Annlin, with water at knee level when authorities arrived. Part of the roof also collapsed.
Hail and severe weather was also observed in Vereeniging.
A Global petrol station roof collapsed due to a severe storm that hit Sharpeville on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Palace of Justice in Pretoria was impacted by the weather with the building being flooded, Nathi Mncube, spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ), confirmed.
Mncube explained that contractors had been working on repairing the building’s roof when the thunderstorm occurred.
“The damage to the floor and files is being assessed, but it is necessary to mention that most of the files affected by the flooding are dormant.
“I might as well add that OCJ is currently looking into digitising old records with particular and urgent reference to old files. The project is at its infancy stage. The courts have run out of filing space and this has resulted in some files being stacked on floor,” he said.
Additional reporting from Nica Richards
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