Johannesburg - At least five people were rescued from flooded rivers in a rainy Gauteng on Monday, where dozens of roads were closed, officials said.
Emergency management services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said two men and a woman were rescued from a stream in flood in Naledi, Soweto, by local residents.
The three had been swept away by a strong current as they were trying to cross the river.
Tshwane emergency services spokesman Johan Pieterse said two men were rescued from the Jukskei river in Centurion. One of the men was found sitting in a tree and the other was found underneath the Gautrain bridge.
Details of how the men got swept into the river were unclear, Pieterse said. They were taken to a nearby hospital.
Dozens of roads in Gauteng were closed due to flooding on Monday, officials said.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency listed the number of affected roads in its area:
* Elias Motsoaledi Road, Main Street and Sifuba Street in Dobsonville
* Mahalefele Drive in Dube
* Reverend Modise Road at the intersection with Forbes Road, in Meadowlands, with water from the upper street pouring on to the lower end, covering the centre median and sidewalks
* Mtipa Street in Orlando West
* Kalinde Street in Chiawelo
* Van Onsellen Road and Mlambo Street in Meadowlands
* Modjadji Street and Mohlatswa Street in Pimville
* Dippenaar Street in Diepkloof Zone Two
* Banfield Road in Industria North, road closed.
* Bunsen Road in Industria West, road closed.
Low lying bridges were flooded at Kinini Street in Mofolo Central, Vilakazi Street in Mofolo Park, Mila and Armitage Streets in Orlando West, Mlambo Street in Meadowlands Zone Five and Vundla Street in Moroka.
Motorists were also warned that there was significant damage to the road surface at the intersection of Peter Place and Braam Fischer Drive in Bryanston.
A number of roads in Centurion were also closed due to flooding on Monday, Tshwane metro police said.
Spokesman Basil Nkhwashu said roads including Littleton, Herbert, and Hippo roads had been closed to traffic.
Mulaudzi warned that Klip Valley Road and New Canada Road in Soweto, and William Nicol and Goldman roads, near Florida, had been flooded.
He said emergency services would help evacuate areas affected by flooding.
“We will be monitoring areas such as Alexandra, Diepsloot and Ivory Park.”
A number of accidents, including a light aircraft crash at Lanseria International Airport on Monday, were in part attributed to the heavy rains and the flooding it caused.
Airport spokeswoman Claudette Vianello said the weather was considered to be a factor in the crash, in which three people were killed on Monday morning.
Johannesburg metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said that between 6am and 11am there had been 52 road accidents, eight of which resulted in injuries.
Around 1pm a 10-ton truck overturned when it drove through a pool of water on the N12 west.
Minnaar said emergency workers helped out when a car got stuck on a low-level bridge linking Kliptown and Klipspruit West earlier on Monday.
The SA Weather Service said heavy rain in and around Johannesburg would start to ease off from Tuesday morning.
“Today we are expecting an 80 percent chance of rain, on and off, through to (Tuesday) morning,” forecaster Bongani Chibi said.
Thereafter only isolated showers were expected until Thursday. The wet weather, which caused flooding in parts of Johannesburg, was caused by a tropical low weather system.
Chibi said it was difficult to predict whether Gauteng would have more heavy rains of this nature before winter.
“Until the end of April, there is still a chance.”
Sapa