Residents of the City of Johannesburg have been alerted by the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) to be cautious with their heating and lighting appliances as temperatures begin to drop.
“The EMS has noted with concern the warning message from the South African Weather Service that most parts of Gauteng, including the City of Johannesburg, will experience a significant drop in temperatures, to between 23 and 20 degrees with wet conditions, as a result of the cold front moving towards the Western Cape. Forecasters say a sprinkling of snow is expected in high-lying areas, but the weather is expected to clear on Sunday afternoon,” EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi indicated.
A worried Mulaudzi said, “This significant drop in temperatures means that most of the residents of the City of Johannesburg will be exposed to extremely cold temperatures, forcing them to use whatever heating and lighting appliances they have to try and warm themselves. Most of these appliances are not SABS-approved and also do not comply with the specifications drawn up by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications. In many cases, these appliances could explode while in use, thus endangering or killing the user. We therefore encourage our residents to buy their heating devices from reputable dealers.”
Mulaudzi promised that EMS services will be on the lookout throughout. “The City’s EMS will remain on high alert to make sure that we respond to any emergency which might occur, with our main focus on the 189 informal settlements throughout the City, since we know that these communities are the most vulnerable to fire incidents when we have extremely cold winter temperatures,” he explained.
“The City’s Disaster Management Centre will be fully operational throughout and Disaster Management Monitoring teams have been dispatched to all 7 regions of the city to monitor any eventuality and facilitate any evacuation procedures whenever there might be a need to do so,” Mulaudzi concluded.
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