Gauteng residents warned to brace for yet another cold front

Just when Gauteng residents thought the weather was warming up, regional forecaster Gauteng Weather has warned people to brace for yet another cold front.

The province has suffered a series of cold spells, including snowfall with the mercury dipping well below the zero degree mark.

Gauteng Weather said early forecasts shows more cold weather is expected to envelope the province.

“Early forecast suggests another cold front to hit Gauteng on Sunday.”

Emergency services

With the early forecast, Johannesburg Emergency Services is once again likely to be on high alert for any eventuality.

Joburg EMS said it will be monitoring all seven regions of the city for any emergencies, especially at informal settlements.

“We therefore would like to urge all our residents to use all heating devices safely. This includes heaters, imbaula, paraffin stoves, candles. Not to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fire incidents at home during these extremely cold temperatures.”

The cold weather has also put pressure on the electricity grid with Eskom imposing higher stages of load shedding.

ALSO READ: Eskom ramps up load shedding to stage 5

Load shedding

On Monday the parastatal ramped up load shedding to stage 5.

Eskom said the higher stages of load shedding was due to the breakdown of five generating units and delays in returning others to service.

Eskom Crisis Communication Manager Menzi Mngomezulu said the utility would publish an update as any significant changes occur.

“Due to further delays in returning generating units to service, as well as the further failure of 5 generating units today, Stage 5 load shedding will be implemented from 2pm today until 5am on Tuesday.

Stage 4 has been implemented until further notice.

Eskom has been battling with generation capacity in the last few weeks amid the series of cold fronts that have swept across the country.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Winter wonderland, it’s snowing in Joburg!