Gauteng tornado damage
© ER24 Three people have been injured after a roof collapsed at the Phumulani Mall in Tembisa, Gauteng.
A tornado wreaked havoc in the east of Johannesburg near OR Tambo International airport on Tuesday afternoon - the second to hit Gauteng within the last 24-hours.

At least 20 people were injured when the tornado passed through Thembisa at 4pm, damaging Phumulani Mall in Winnie Mandela section, Tembisa Hospital and a Total garage, both in Hospital View.

People in Johannesburg took to social media to share pictures and videos of the tornado touching down in the area and the damage it caused.

@LAssenheim posted this as he was driving near Boksburg:


Jana van den Heever shared this video on Facbook showing the moment a tornado struck:


Suzette du Preez posted the following video, claiming roofs were blown off and cars forced off the road:


The roof of Phumulani Mall in Winnie Mandela section in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, on the East Rand collapsed after the tornado passed through.

ER24 paramedics and other emergency services were on the scene. Werner Vermaak, spokesman for ER24, said several people had been treated for minor injuries at the mall.

"It is believed their injuries were caused by falling debris. They were assessed on the scene and transported to a nearby hospital. Fire and rescue teams conducted a full search off the area to ensure no one else was trapped. At this stage the teams have not found anyone else injured."


The South African Weather Service said that severe weather patterns should subside throughout Tuesday night.

Forecaster Vanetia Phakula said on that thunderstorms, some of which may be severe, were expected over Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal throughout the night.

"But for now there is no indication of any severe thunderstorms over Thembisa, where the tornado was identified," she said.

She added that the situation "should be getting better" throughout the evening.

Earlier today, videos shared on social media appeared to show a tornado touching down in Magaliesburg on Monday afternoon.


The weather service has issued severe weather alerts for Wednesday, saying disruptive snowfall is expected over the extreme south-western parts of KwaZulu-Natal, north-eastern parts of the Eastern Cape and the extreme south-eastern parts of the Free State.

"Heavy rain leading to localised flooding is expected in places over north-eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal in the morning and also over the northern parts of the West Coast District and the southern parts of the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape," it said.

City officials have already sent out teams to northern parts of Ekurhuleni to assess the situation and more assessment would be made throughout the night to determine if the area should be declared a disaster.