Cape Town — Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) has warned residents to stay on high alert, as the city braces for a heatwave.
The South African Weather Services (SAWS) has warned its residents that persistently high temperatures are expected throughout the entire Gauteng province, while high temperatures are also expected in the Free State, North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal, EWN reported.
“As the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services, we will remain on high alert to make sure we can respond to all the incidents which might occur throughout the City of Johannesburg,” Johannesburg EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, said.
Heatwave Advisory Update: Heatwave conditions with persistently high temperatures exceeding average maxima are expected until Friday #StayHydrated pic.twitter.com/x9Yk7VsYSD
— Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre (@GautengPDMC) November 22, 2023
Meanwhile, Johannesburg residents have also been urged to use water sparingly during this time, as Johannesburg Water said their critical water system is holding firm, but residents should also be mindful of how they use their water, SABC News reported.
City of Johannesburg’s inconsistent water supply has left residents thirsty from time to time. The Johannesburg Emergency Services urged residents to remain hydrated.
“Residents are urged to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water, residents are urged to stay away from direct sunlight especially between 11h00 and 15h00 in the afternoon, residents who are working directly into Sunlight are urged to take regular breaks as exposure to this extremely hot temperatures can cause heat exhaustion, heat cramps which might lead to heat stroke,” Mulaudzi explained further.
The Utility’s Acting General Manager Logan Munsamy says plans are in place to avoid a system collapse.
“We are monitoring our reservoirs and towers very intensely so we can detect any problems. we enforcing restrictions in terms of communities adhering to the restrictions and reducing overall consumption, we also have identified areas of high consumption and throttling valves in the system, which means we are partially closing valves at critical times to limit flows to ensure the reservoirs build up enough storage for the day that’s been happening on our critical areas,” Munsamy said.
Munsamy said that extended dry weather periods will could have damaging effects.
“In our water industry, we know the weather plays a crucial part in the supply and delivery of the water services to our customers, although as it stands the system is healthy and showing an upward trajectory in terms of the reservoir levels the heat wave conditions is always a risk.”
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
