He explained that even though isolated thunder showers were predicted across the country for Sunday and scattered rains during the week, what was forecast was not similar to showers this past week.
"What we experienced on Wednesday and Thursday was a cut-off low system which was not normal for this time of year." Floods resulting from heavy rain in Johannesburg over the past few days left thousands of people displaced.
"About 1 200 families have been housed in community halls and schools around the city," Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Percy Morokane said. People were being accommodated at Kliptown, Protea South and Orlando West community halls in Soweto, as well as Orlando high school and a church hall in Orlando while a church in Alexandra was also helping out.
Young boy
Thus far officials have only reported two deaths caused by the heavy rains. One death was reported at Groot Marico in the North West where a young boy drowned.
The young boy's father, Daniel Black, told Sapa on Saturday that the family was staying at a resort when their house was flooded and three of the five family members were swept away by flood water at midnight on Wednesday.
Black's wife and their daughter of 18 months stayed in the house. She tied herself to a window sill high enough to keep out of harms way.
"My 18-month-old daughter was saved by my wife." Black said his 14-year-old son was swept away by the water while he and his little boy were swept in a different direction by the water.
"We couldn't see our hands in front of our faces, that was how dark it was," said 39-year-old Black.
The father and his small son became separated. Black said no police were involved in their rescue, another resident living at the resort found both him and his 14-year-old son separately after daylight.
The neighbour who was on higher ground found his older son first and took him to his mother, then spotted Black who swam to higher ground until he could walk. He said the body of his little boy was found further down river. The funeral will be held at the Trinity Methodist Church in Linden, Johannesburg, on Wednesday at noon.
Car swept away
The second death was reported by ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson who said that emergency services rescued around 85 people from flooded areas around Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The deceased was a woman whose vehicle was swept away late on Thursday afternoon on the Fochville Road crossing over the Rietspruit just outside of Vanderbijlpark.
Around 09:00 on Friday morning, her car was found floating upside down in the river. Rescuers battled for almost two hours to pull the vehicle to shore because currents in the river were very strong.
"The 35-year-old woman was found to be still sitting in the driver's seat of the Blue Citi Golf, and sadly she was deceased, presumed to have drowned."
A flash flood caused the road to become severely waterlogged. A bystander contacted the police and said the vehicle had been swept about 200m into the river. ER24 urged the public to be aware of the danger of waterlogged bridges.
Tshwane safety and security spokesperson, William Baloyi, said that the roads have been cleared and streets were open.
On high alert
He said that disaster management was now activated and would be on high alert as it was the rainy season. "We are not only dealing with threats of rain, but also with incidents of health and stagnant water." He said a bridge collapsed between Klipgat and Mabopane close to Soshanguve due to Thursday's rains and the road was now closed.
He said the bridge crossing the Tolani River lead to the cemetery and a route that usually took residents 10 minutes, now took more than an hour.
The repair of the bridge would take close to three months and he was unsure of the cost, Baloyi said. Baloyi called upon Tshwane residents not to erect their new homes near low-lying areas.
"We call upon people to make sure that whatever structures they erect now, to avoid low-lying areas." He also urged the Apostolic Church who usually baptise their members in rivers in the Kliptown area to desist and respect the current situation. "There should be limitations."
Sluice gates open
He said that last year over the festive season over ten people drowned due to this ritual in the area alone. In another part of the country the water police warned that the Vaal dam has reached its capacity. Eugene Opperman said on Saturday the water would flow to the barrage where other sluice gates would possible be opened.
"In the whole area we are expecting some flooding on the embankments and there might even be some flash floods." He warned fishermen and people surrounding the river to take note and to stay away from the banks until further notice.
Brink Du Plessis, spokesperson for the department of water affairs, said due to the recent heavy rains in most parts of the country, sluice gates in some dams would be released as a measure of controlling the flow of water and to avert any possible floods.
The affected dams were the Vaal, Gariep, Bloemhof and Vanderkloof dams. There would only be two sluices open at the Vaal dam by Sunday, Du Plessis said.
On Friday departmental engineers warned downstream users such as farmers and holiday makers at Bloemhof to be particularly cautious as 600m³ of water would be released at Bloemhof. Residents in Christiana, Barkly West and Douglas were likely to be affected by the outflow, the department said.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Showers-expected-countrywide-20101218