Rain expected to subside in Gauteng this weekend

Everyone from emergency services to the weather services is still on high alert following a week of heavy downpours of rainfall, floods and a tornado sighting in Pretoria.

On Thursday, City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department spokesperson Lindsay Zwelithini Mnguni said there were no new reports of damages.

“There were two incidents last night. One was an elderly man who was successfully rescued by our Swiftwater Rescue teams (working with the Saps water unit) from a bus that was stuck in water in Babelegi. In the other incident, two people were also rescued near the Carousel area in Hammanskraal. They were stranded on top of the security vehicle,” he said.

Heavy rain causes chaos in Tshwane

The recent heavy downpours in Tshwane not only saw the flooding of the Hennops Rivier and many road closures but also the temporary closure of the Rietvlei Nature Reserve as of Wednesday until further notice.

Mnguni said the city was compelled to temporarily close operations at the reserve due to flooding.

“The roads within the nature reserve are not driveable and most of the bridges are flooded,” he said.

Tornado in Montana

There was also a tornado sighting in Montana on Tuesday afternoon that caused significant damage in the area along the Sefako Makgatho Drive, especially at the Sandpiper residential complex not far from the Kolonnade Shopping Mall.

Petrus Mogale from Mamelodi said the floods were worse in the townships than in the city with many roads flooded.

Mogale travels from the east to the west of Pretoria where he works as a car guard at a small supermarket.

“I saw children pulling themselves over a flood of water from a taxi to get to the other side of the road, it was bad,” he said.

Mogale said he was fortunate that his house wasn’t in a low-lying area because many houses were left flooded this week. He added that he couldn’t take his bicycle to work this week which cost him taxi fare he hadn’t budgeted for.

While the rain has started to subside, many reports of flooding in Gauteng, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal have been reported. Clean-up operations are currently underway while the weather starts to clear.

Vox Weather has reported that the Swartklip Dam (Bierspruit), located north of Pilanesberg National Park in Limpopo, has breached its dam wall.

Vox meteorologist Annette Botha said this week’s heavy rain in the north-eastern parts of South Africa has seen the Vaal Dam rising to 71.08% as of Thursday, up from 23.8% on 1 January.

The South African Weather Service has forecast a dryer weekend, with a 30% chance of isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in the eastern parts of for Saturday and Sunday.

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