Pretoria - Tshwane residents, motorists and schoolchildren were badly affected by the torrential downpours that swept across the city on Friday.
The rains left roads flooded, traffic lights out of order and those living in low-lying areas vulnerable.
Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Johan Pieterse said residents of several informal settlements in Mamelodi and Soshanguve were relocated by emergency services on Thursday night for their own safety.
They have since moved back to their homes but Pieterse warned that there was still a risk as the ground was sodden and water cannot always be channelled safely into stormwater drains.
Throughout the day, pictures emerged on social media of flooded roads and uprooted trees. One of the most bizarre was that of a white Mazda 6 upended in a sinkhole in Centurion.
Metro police closed the bridge at the corner of Eskia Mphahlele Drive and Hartbeespoort Road after stormwaters wreaked havoc all morning
. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/ANA
Mpho Borodi explained that he had been driving along Stephanus Schoeman Road on his way to work, and did not see the gaping hole.
“It was too dark and the street lights weren't working.
“I couldn't see properly and did not expect that.
“I am lucky to have survived. I cannot tell you how I survived but I did," said the former soldier, who believes his background made him strong to cope with the trauma of what had happened to him.
Soshanguve East Secondary School pupils had to jump the railway tracks to and from school as the bridge used to cross from Soshanguve Extension 7 to Soshanguve Block XX was closed.
Some pupils were not able to go to school because sections of their routes were so heavily flooded.
Charmane Mashifane said she misstepped on stepping stones and landed in the water while Simakaleng Rapela, Leina Pheme and Lethabo Malatji, who normally use the bridge, said it was not safe to do so on Friday.
A number of motorists became trapped under a low-water bridge on Nellmapius Road in Irene and by mid-morning many of the city's low-lying bridge crossings had been closed by the authorities.
A car stuck in floodwaters near the corner of West Avenue and South Street in Centurion.
Picture: Bongani Shilubane/ANA
Other cars were trapped in floodwaters on West Street in Centurion. The roads in the area resembled rivers, as the Hennops burst its banks.
Pieterse said those living in the informal settlements, should leave when water levels rise. “Evacuate everyone to safer community areas to ensure that your children’s safety is top priority,”
City spokesperson Selby Bokaba said there were power failures in a number of areas due to the rain.
In some areas, branches or complete trees fell and obstructed the road, including in Centurion and Garsfontein.
These trees collapsed between the M3 and the M18 coming into the city from Centurion. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/ANA
*A customer enjoying a midday meal at Tashasrestaurant in Menlyn Maine was on Friday taken to hospital following the partial collapse of a skylight into the
restaurant.
Central Management noted that “an incident occurred above the Tashas restaurant during the course of maintenance work arising from the inclement weather.
“This affected a portion of the skylight directly above Tashas. A patron of the restaurant was injured and medical assistance was immediately provided at the scene”.
The affected area of the restaurant was closed and clean-up operations commenced.
The restaurant is closed temporarily, writes Virgilatte Gwangwa.