Gauteng receives flood warning as plenty of rain expected

Gauteng residents get your umbrellas ready as plenty of rain is forecast to drench the province, leading to localised flooding on Tuesday.

The SA Weather Service has issued a warning to residents in and around Johannesburg that downpours are expected for the rest of the week.

Forecaster Kgolofelo Mahlangu said the bulk of the rain would fall on Tuesday.

"We are expecting on-and-off thundershowers throughout the day on Tuesday. It is an 80% chance of rain we are expecting. With that we can expect heavy rain over Gauteng, which could lead to localised flooding," said Mahlangu.

Department of Water and Sanitation spokesman Sputnik Ratau, however, cautioned residents to adhere to existing water restrictions.

"Notwithstanding the recent rainfalls, the dam levels nationally continue to decline.

"The reason for that are the high temperatures and there has not been sufficiently consistent rainfall.

"Accordingly, the weather service predicts most of the consistent rainfall will be from January 2018," said Ratau.

"This implies that South Africans need to continue using water prudently. We need to continue to adhere to water restrictions where these are being applied. We are not yet out of the woods in terms of the drought and thus water availability."

Mahlangu said a warning had been issued for Gauteng on Tuesday. Temperatures would start off mild, warming up in the afternoon.

Johannesburg temperatures will rise from 14C to about 20C. Pretoria will start off at 16C and peak at 24C. Vereeniging will go from 14C to a maximum of 21C.

Ratau said the Vaal Dam was 77% full. This was in stark contrast to last year when it was at 35.1%.