By OBAKENG MAJE
18 February 2025- The North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng urged motorists, pedestrians and all other road users to be cautious as they navigate the roads. This comes after the province experiences extreme rainfall.
Morweng said according to weather reports, the North West is among the provinces that are anticipated to experience persistent wet weather conditions in variations throughout the week.
“We call for road users to navigate roads carefully and adhere to road safety protocols in order to deal with unexpected occurrences and avoid accidents.
“Road crashes have been proven to be susceptible to harsh weather conditions, it is for this reason that we encourage road users in general to be careful as they navigate expected downpours,” he said.
Morweng further said motorists must significantly reduce their speed and increase their following distance, ensuring that headlights are on to increase visibility. He added that they should also ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy, as well as to remain alert while driving and pay attention to surroundings at all times.
“We also encourage pedestrians to ensure that they wear visible and bright clothing, walk on the right side of the road, facing oncoming traffic, avoid jaywalking and cross roads only at designated crossing points.
“Furthermore, law enforcement officers will be on high alert during this time to deal with any eventualities,” said Morweng.
Meanwhile, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe said: “There is a return of heavy showers across parts of South Africa from 16 until 20 February 2025. Heavy on-and-off showers are expected at times this Sunday across the North West and Gauteng provinces.
“This includes the northern region of Free State, Highveld areas of Mpumalanga and south-
western Limpopo. The resulting localised floods are expected to affect susceptible areas, bridges and roads.”
Segalwe said SAWS once again advises the communities living in low-lying areas and flat plains to be on the lookout for the disruptive rain across the central and eastern regions of South Africa. He said motorists and pedestrians should be extra cautious, where roads are slippery and/or visibility is affected.
“These conditions with cloudy to overcast skies are expected across South Africa along with subregions of ordinary showers and thundershowers. The rainfall accumulation is expected to be in the region of 20 to 50 millimetres (mm).
“Daytime temperatures in these regions are also expected to be cool. The transport of moist tropical air from continental low over Botswana is the main source of the current cloudy and showery conditions,” said Segalwe.
The Guardian 