The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of more rain for the flood-hit provinces of Gauteng and Free State.
This came as traffic chaos and reports of cars and people being swept away in Gauteng dominated early-morning news reports on Thursday.
In the Free State, reports indicated that homes had been flooded, and bridges were under water.
”We are expecting more heavy rain, all the way to next week Tuesday,” said SAWS forecaster Abel Moatshe. It is due to ”tropical moisture”, which is normal during this time of the year.
The weather warning, on the SAWS website, said isolated heavy rainfalls are expected to persist over the eastern interior of the Eastern Cape, southern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and the extreme southern parts of the Free State.
”Further showers and thundershowers may result in isolated heavy falls and localised flooding for the remainder of the week,” the website warning said.
Commuters in Johannesburg reported traffic chaos, saying it had sometimes taken 45 minutes to travel 10km.
Meanwhile, residents of Somalia informal settlement near Boksburg were refusing to leave their flooded shacks and be evacuated to a community hall.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson Kobeli Mokhoseng said at 8am: ”Five shacks are under water and the residents won’t be moved. The homes are more than 1m under water. It is up to my knees as we speak. The shack owners want to stay here until the water subsides.”
They were not in danger of being swept away, because there was no river nearby. ”The area is a wetland. We keep on telling them not to build here every day.”
Mokhoseng said emergency vehicles and tow trucks were also in Trichardt Road, Boksburg, which was flooded.
”Two cars were washed off a low-level bridge, each with one person in them,” said ER24 spokesperson Nick Dollman. ”Both the drivers have been found, but the cars are still in the river.”
At 7.30am, Dollman said the river water had subsided and the bridge, on Paul Kruger Road where it turns into Nico Diederichs, was accessible.
In the Free State, the two bridges in and out of Wepener were under water, some roads were impassable and houses had been flooded.
”The Caledon River is in full spate,” said Sergeant Thandi Mbambo. ”It is difficult to get in and out of town.”
The road between Bloemfontein and Brandfort in the southern Free State was under water, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
In the Thaba Nchu area, some roads were impassable and several houses in Ladybrand in the eastern Free State had been flooded. — Sapa