Storm warnings on the last day of special votes, with one naming voting as a possible casualty
SAWS has five severe-thunderstorm warnings and a Red Level 10 veld fire warning in force today. One storm warning lists disruption to “voting activities/processes” among its expected impacts.
By Staff Reporter · Published
A Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms over parts of North West and the Free State, valid from 14:00 to 21:59, lists “localised and short term disruption to municipal services and voting activities/processes” among the expected impacts, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS). The SAWS Free State regional office issued it at 07:51 today, the last day of special voting.
SAWS has five severe-thunderstorm warnings in force today (two Yellow Level 4 and three Yellow Level 2) and a Red Level 10 warning for veld fire conditions in parts of Limpopo. Its forecast also warns of extremely high fire danger in western North West, the extreme east of the Northern Cape, the Limpopo Valley and the Western Bushveld.
- What changed: a SAWS warning issued at 07:51 adds parts of North West and the Free State to today’s storm risk, and names voting among the possible impacts.
- Who is affected: special voters, election staff and motorists this afternoon.
- What you can do: vote early if you can and avoid flooded roads. SAWS says: “If trapped in a vehicle during a flood, abandon it and climb to higher ground.”
Where the storms are
SAWS has a Yellow Level 4 warning in place for severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, hail and excessive lightning over northern KwaZulu-Natal (valid until 23:59) and the Mpumalanga Highveld and parts of Sekhukhune in Limpopo (12:00–21:59). SAWS’s forecast text also mentions the extreme east of the Free State, but its warning map lists no Free State municipality at Level 4. In the eastern Free State, including Van Reenen, Bohlokong, Warden, Reitz and Frankfort, a Yellow Level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms applies from 14:00 to 21:59.
Every warning on the Storm Live page carries its own expiry time.
Election day
As of 10:35, SAWS had not issued any warnings for Wednesday 4 November. We will check again this afternoon.
Our own forecast data, which comes from a computer model and is not a SAWS forecast, shows this for Wednesday:
| Place | Conditions | High / low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg | Partly cloudy | 27°C / 15°C | 0.1 mm |
| Pretoria | Partly cloudy | 32°C / 17°C | 0.2 mm |
| Vereeniging | Fair | 30°C / 16°C | 0.0 mm |
| Bloemfontein | Clear sky | 31°C / 15°C | 0.0 mm |
| Kimberley | Clear sky | 34°C / 16°C | 0.0 mm |
| Mahikeng | Fair | 33°C / 19°C | 0.0 mm |
| Durban | Partly cloudy | 26°C / 21°C | 0.2 mm |
| Cape Town | Cloudy | 31°C / 17°C | 0.1 mm |
Nation Watch SA forecast data (MET Norway model, CC BY 4.0), updated 13:49 3 November. A model forecast, not a SAWS forecast or warning. How our forecasts work
Special votes and tent stations
The IEC said 2,655,067 voters were approved for special votes. That figure was based on applications captured by mid-October, so it is not a final total.
The IEC has 148 voting stations that are tents only, EWN reported. KZN electoral officer Ntombfuthi Masinga said that in some communities “there is absolutely no permanent structure”. It is not known how many of those stations are in the area under the Level 4 warning.
Power
Eskom said it would intensify its 24-hour network monitoring and prioritise its response in areas supporting electoral activities to reduce the risk of disruption. There was no load shedding as of 10:35, although Eskom’s targeted load reduction continues in parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
- Five SAWS severe-thunderstorm warnings and one Red Level 10 warning for veld fire conditions are in force today (SAWS).
- One of them, for parts of North West and the Free State, names voting among the possible impacts.
- As of 10:35, there were no SAWS warnings for Wednesday.
- Whether SAWS will issue warnings for election day.
- Which Free State areas, if any, fall under Level 4: SAWS’s forecast text and its warning map differ.
- How many tent-only voting stations are in the Level 4 area.
We are monitoring SAWS warnings through the day and will update this report, with a time stamp, when anything changes.
- SAWS warnings data and CAP feed: weathersa.co.za and caps.weathersa.co.za
- IEC readiness statement, 1 November: elections.org.za
- EWN on tent-only stations: ewn.co.za
- Eskom’s election measures, reported by Green Building Africa; status from Eskom load-shedding
Forecasts mentioned
- Johannesburg 7-day forecast
- Pretoria 7-day forecast
- Durban 7-day forecast
- Bloemfontein 7-day forecast
- Vereeniging 7-day forecast
- Sasolburg 7-day forecast
Official source: https://caps.weathersa.co.za/Home/RssFeed
How we make our journalism: every article is checked, edited and approved by our Editor-in-Chief before publication, and SAWS is credited for every warning we report. See our editorial policy.
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