Gauteng residents warned to brace for yet another scorching heatwave

Gauteng residents have been warned to brace for another heatwave expected to hit the province next week.

The country has been swayed between hot and cold weather conditions ahead of the festive season.

According to regional weather service Gauteng Weather who shared the details on X, the temperatures are once again expected to be in the high thirties.

“Another heatwave declared in Gauteng, lasting until at least Tuesday!!!” it wrote on the social media platform.

🔴 BREAKING: ANOTHER HEATWAVE DECLARED IN GAUTENG, LASTING UNTIL AT LEAST TUESDAY!!!

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— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) December 2, 2023

Heatwave

The mercury is expected to hit the high thirties in some areas. Temperatures in Johannesburg are forecast to start off at a minimum of 17°C on Monday and reach a high of 30°C.

Pretoria is also expected to be hot with scorching temperatures starting with a minimum of 19°C and reaching a high of 34°C on Tuesday.

Vereeniging is expected to see the mercury start at a minimum of 17°C and reaching a high of 33°C.

The heatwave is also expected to spike the irritability factor as people try and keep cool during the hot weather.

ALSO READ: [UPDATE] Eskom to impose various stages of load shedding on the weekend – Here’s your schedule

Precautions

City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi has previously urged residents to exercise extreme caution during scorching weather conditions.

“Johannesburg EMS would like to encourage residents to continue to exercise caution when conducting daily activities.  Stay hydrated, drink lots of water, avoid direct sunlight, especially between 11h00 and 15h00, and take regular breaks when walking directly into the sunlight.

“Exposure to these extremely hot temperatures can cause heat exhaustion and heat cramps which might lead to heat stroke,” said Mulaudzi .

Load shedding

The heatwave is also expected to put pressure the electricity grid.

Last week, the country was plunged into stage 6 load shedding as Eskom tried to keep up with demand with additional pressure on generations that were taken off line.

This was about 1 500MW above Thursday’s levels, according to Eskom group executive for generation Bheki Nxumalo.

Nxumalo said an increased demand for air conditioning and fans could be blamed for the stage 6 load shedding.

ALSO READ: Play it cool in this scorching heat