Cape Town – “I don’t know how that can happen without you swearing,” said one tweep after watching the video of eNCA reporter, Manqoba Mchunu being overpowered by the strong winds in Gauteng amidst a fierce hailstorm.
Mchunu himself uploaded the video to Twitter, captioning it, “Respect mother nature!”
“That hail storm was hectic and brutal,” he added, as he thanked those who sent their well-wishes and messages of support.
In the video, Mchunu is reporting live despite visibly being affected by harsh winds and hailstones gushing down onto him. He can be seen struggling to hold his umbrella in a constant upright position as the wind exerts its force.
Watch the video here:
Respect mother nature! That hail storm was hectic and brutal. Thanks for the support and well wishes. pic.twitter.com/csHUtEjHUC
— Manqoba Mchunu (@ManqobaMchunu) December 5, 2022
The South African Weather Service said in a statement that they expect disruptive rainfall over central provinces and further localised flooding in the days ahead.
“A cut-off low, located in the mid to upper reaches of the atmosphere, currently lies over the western parts of southern Africa. This system is likely to significantly influence the circulation over the southern African subcontinent, especially during the next 48 hours,” the weather service said.
“The prospects for rainfall over much of South Africa remain very favourable in the days ahead, especially over the eastern half of the country. In particular, there is a moderate to high risk of localised flooding of a disruptive nature, especially over North-West, Gauteng, the Free State, as well as adjacent parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the north-eastern sector of the Northern Cape,” it added.
SAWS said that the rainfall experienced by the provinces of North-West as well as Free State during the past two to three weeks has resulted in the ground being saturated, lessening the infiltration capacity of the soil.
“Further rainfall will therefore very quickly lead to overland runoff and localised flooding. Stream and river systems can also be expected to begin flowing strongly,” it said.
SAWS has encouraged the public to exercise extreme caution (whether in a vehicle or on foot) when crossing low-water bridges, to avoid being swept away by strong water flow.
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Picture: Twitter/ @ManqobaMchunu
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
