Pretoria – The South African Weather Service says “Dineo”, now classified as a tropical depression, is currently located near the border of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The weather service issued an update on Tropical Cyclone Dineo on Friday afternoon.
South Africans have been bracing themselves for the approaching cyclone which made landfall last night in Inhambane, southern Mozambique. Southern Mozambique was hit on Thursday by the tropical cyclone accompanied by strong winds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour as well as torrential rainfall and rough seas.
Dineo was expected to hit South Africa on Friday.
“The system has caused widespread rain showers over eastern Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The heaviest rains from Thursday were recorded in Mpumalanga, where Graskop recorded 166mm, 96mm at Bourke’s Luck, 61mm at Kruger Mpumalanga Airport and 49mm at the Barberton prison,” said the weather service.
Rain showers are still persisting over the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces and are expected to become heavier in places during the course of the day.
Therefore, said the weather service, the warnings over the two provinces remain in force for the rest of today into Saturday.
Tomorrow, Saturday, scattered showers are expected over northern parts of Mpumalanga as well as Limpopo and heavy rains are expected to shift to Botswana.
For the remainder of the country, isolated thunderstorms are expected over the central parts but will be scattered over southern Free State and Northern Cape as well as most of the Eastern Cape.
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on Friday said all disaster management teams were on standby.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) comprising of various government departments and institutions was constituted and has developed a plan that is currently being implemented, working in tandem with all the affected provinces. – SAnews.gov.za
