A burst water pipe caused the flooding of 30 to 40 houses at Meredale, south of Johannesburg, early on Tuesday morning, according to Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley.
”Some houses are a metre deep in water,” he said.
South African Broadcasting Corporation radio reports said that hundreds of people have been evacuated and that Rand Water had reduced the pressure outlets at a nearby resevoir.
Flooding spread to Main Road and the Golden Highway in the area, said Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar.
”Motorists heading to Johannesburg from Lenasia, Eldorado Park, Orange Farm, Zacharia Park and Ennerdale should avoid those roads and rather use the M1,” he said.
Three fire engines were at the scene, said Midgley. The pipe was a metre in diameter, he said. No further details were available. – Sapa