Eight people were injured and at least 14 veldfires had to be put out as strong winds blasted parts of the country on Saturday.
Seven people were injured when a roof blew off a Pick ‘n Pay supermarket in Cape Town and a child was slightly injured when a tent was blown over in KwaZulu-Natal’s Vryheid at a function attended by four provincial ministers and thousands of people.
The Working on Fire organisation said it had responded to 14 veldfires by Saturday afternoon, battling with the strong winds as volunteers tried to douse flames.
Working on Fire said the Lowveld, the escarpment and the Free State were at risk and urged the public to very cautious when making a fire.
KwaZulu-Natal education minister Ina Cronjé, sports and recreation provincial Amichand Rajbansi, health minister Nelisiwe Nkonyeni and local government and housing minister Mike Mabuyakhulu had been launching various social projects in Vryheid when a ”freak” wind lifted the tent, leaving a seven-year-old girl with one minor cut, but everybody else unharmed.
”We are immensely relieved that everyone is safe,” said Cronjé.
”We also want to thank the police, marshals and paramedics for their quick reaction and assistance to check for injuries and to secure people’s possessions that were trapped underneath the tent,” Cronjé said.
ER24 spokesperson Derrick Banks said the seven people were injured at the Pick ‘n Pay when strong winds led to the roof’s collapse.
Everybody else was evacuated safely.
Weather forecaster Wisani Maluleke said the current low-pressure system was being pushed by a high-pressure system, causing the strong winds.
”It’s not a good idea to go camping, your tent will get blown away,” he said.
He added that light aircraft would also experience turbulence.
The winds would continue throughout Saturday and were expected to drop on Sunday.
The South African Weather Service said gale force westerly winds 65km/h could be expected in places over the Western Cape with storm-strength winds [in excess of 80km/h] expected along the Western Cape coast, south of Cape Point and spreading to East London on Sunday.
”Very rough seas with destructive waves in excess of seven metres, coinciding with spring high tides, are expected along the Western Cape coast, spreading to Durban by Sunday evening,” it warned.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) sent out an advisory, saying boaters should not launch unless it is absolutely necessary and seafarers should wear their life-jackets at all times and exercise extreme caution.
This applied to paddlers, bathers, surfers and anglers. The NSRI also warned of floating logs in the sea.
Heavy rain was also expected in places in the western parts of the Western Cape on Saturday night, said the South African Weather Service.
Very cold, wet and windy conditions are expected for the western parts of the Western and Northern Cape by Saturday night, spreading north and east to include the southern high grounds of the Northern Cape and the interior of the Eastern Cape by Sunday.
Snow is expected over the western high ground of the Western Cape as well as the south-western high ground of the Northern Cape overnight into Sunday morning which will cause extremely cold conditions. – Sapa