Overview
- The South African Weather Service expanded an Orange Level 5 severe-thunderstorm warning into nine Northern Cape municipalities and issued a separate Level 10 veld-fire warning, with forecasts of 30–50 mm rain, 50–60 km/h winds and gusts to 70–90 km/h.
- SAWS upgraded parts of the North West, northern Free State and north-eastern Northern Cape to Orange Level 6, signalling a high risk of flooding, structural damage, travel disruption and municipal service outages.
- Local emergency teams were activated across Gauteng and other provinces and have responded to urban impacts in Johannesburg, including fallen and uprooted trees, blocked roads, a damaged JMPD vehicle and a minibus taxi crushed by a tree.
- Officials urged residents to avoid non-essential travel, secure loose items, stay indoors during storms and follow municipal emergency contacts as heavy rain, hail and excessive lightning threaten large public gatherings and transport links.
- Forecasters expect improvement from Monday but caution that warning boundaries and hazards may change, so authorities will continue monitoring conditions and updating impact-based alerts.