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The City of Ekurhuleni has established a Joint Operational Centre (JoC) to assist victims of a tornado that swept through parts of Tembisa, blowing off the entire roof of Phumulani Mall, outside buildings of the Tembisa Hospital and numerous households.

Premier David Makhura accompanied by Mayor Mondli Gungubele visited the affected areas on Wednesday morning to determine the extent of damage and offer the emergency interventions.

Makhura said the government was helping the affected families to rebuild their shacks as an emergency intervention.

“Our team will remain in the area to restore services such as electricity.  We are hopeful that by the end of today, the power will be restored.

It’s incredible that there were no fatalities in this tragedy.  We however take the incident seriously, our social services is offering counselling to the affected families,” said Makhura. 

Mayor Gungubele said the final audit report of the damage will be completed by next week.

“Due to the magnitude of the damage, we can’t have the report ready in 24 hours, the final report will be done by next week,” said Gungubele.

Meanwhile, victims of the thunderstorm can contact the JoC on 011 458 0911. The JoC will be functional for 24hours a day until the situation has been normalised. Various government teams are on the ground. This includes Eskom and the City’s Energy Department working on restoring power outage in area.

The City’s Disaster and Emergency Services (DEMS) is continuing with assessments. So far three people have been taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The thunderstorm blew up roofs of about 200 households in Winnie Mandela leaving an estimated 400 people displaced. Other areas damaged by the storm include 100 shacks, 20 houses in Hospital view three houses in Daveyton, four ambulances in Tembisa Hospital, including structural damages and a filling station.

The City is providing salvage sheets as an interim measure to cover the roofs and to prevent further damages to the affected properties.

The nearest Rabasotho and Olifansfontein Community Halls are being provided by the City to accommodate victims. Food parcels and blankets will also be distributed to provide further relief to the affected.

The City will also deploy social workers and mobile clinics to provide counselling and other health services.

Issued by Gauteng Provincial Government