Cold front
Gauteng residents to brace for more cold weather
Temperatures in Johannesburg are expected to drop to zero degrees.
The freezing temperatures are likely to put pressure on the electricity system and Eskom has already said that the grid was taking strain.
Temperatures in Johannesburg are expected to hit a high of 12 and a low of zero degrees.
The cold fronts are expected to make landfall on Thursday with heavy rain predicted spreading over the entire Western Cape province by Monday evening.
The South African Weather Service said two winter systems are moving over the country and their impact is expected to be felt throughout the weekend.
The sudden cold snap will settle over the province on Friday as a cold front moves from the western Cape to the central parts of the country.
The weather service said several records were broken for the lowest temperature ever recorded in the country, including in Kroonstad in the Free State which recorded minus 8 degrees.
South Africa was saddled with stage two blackouts on Thursday as the embattled power utility suffered capacity constraints due to generation issues combined with the severe cold weather.
The Johannesburg man was killed when his shack burnt down in the early hours of Friday morning, while 31 families have been left destitute in the freezing cold.
It’s during these conditions that electricity and gas usage spike, but South Africa’s power utility and major gas suppliers are already struggling to meet the current demand.
This is the latest in a series of cold fronts that hit the country this week.
The utility has managed to avoid rolling blackouts in recent weeks but is now asking all users to use electricity sparingly.
Parts of the Free State and Gauteng will experience temperatures dipping below freeze point, with snow forecast for the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.
Eskom is warning that it was battling to function under the pressure of a cold front, the dangerous taxi violence playing out in the Western Cape and illegal connections across the country.
Stormy weather has become a recurring theme over the past few weeks, and several informal settlements are still waterlogged.
The latest winter storm is expected to lash the Cape early in the morning.
The City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management said assessments were under way in Khayelitsha following reports of flooding.
Heavy rains lashed parts of the Western Cape last week as two cold fronts hit.
Forecasters expect Thursday’s cold front to be considerably shorter in duration compared to last week.