South Africa: Gauteng Hit By Flash Floods

Heavy downpours have caused chaos in many communities across the country.

On Tuesday many woke up to their houses and shacks flooded from the heavy rain on Monday night.

In Alexandra the notorious Jukskei River overflowed, leaving residents scrambling to move out their belongings from their homes.

A community leader in Alexandra’s Stjwetla informal settlement, Michael Ngobeni, said every year people in the area face a similar situation with water rising into their homes.

He says it is a dangerous recurrence for the locals and he wishes that the “government fulfils its promises to build houses for the people so that they could move out of the area.”

Along the busy Vasco Da Gama Road, a huge wall of a scrap yard collapsed onto the street amid continuous rain and strong winds.

The street was closed to traffic for several hours as the owners of Maningi Scrap Metals cleared the street.

In Centurion, motorists struggled to cross low-lying bridges, which were completely covered by several inches of water.

Meanwhile, the homes of residents in the Winnie Mandela Section of Tembisa in Ekurhuleni were badly flooded.

Tshwane, Mamelodi, and Hammanskraal were the hardest hit.

Moipone Malefahlo from Skierlik squatter camp in Mamelodi said she woke up on Tuesday morning to find her whole shack filled with water.

She said whenever it rains heavily, she and her neighbours know their shacks will get flooded.

Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson, Charles Mabaso, said an incident of flooding of multiple homes was reported in Suurman near Hammanskraal.

Mabaso said that although no one was injured or required temporary sheltering, a white Nissan Almera lost control on the R80 near the N4 and plunged into a nearby stream in the morning.

“Three occupants escaped with moderate injuries,” he said.

“Multiple low water bridges around Centurion were closed and the Tshwane Metro Police is monitoring the road closures. Utility Services in the region are also responding for cleaning and removing of fallen trees that may obstruct the roads when reported.”

Joburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said there were no major incidents reported so far, but they remained on high alert.

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