Foreign

Just Two-Minute Shower, SA Advises Johannesburg Residents

By Web News 380

Water suppliers in Johannesburg, South Africa, have asked residents of the city and its suburbs to use less water amid an intensifying water shortage that they warn could “result in the collapse of the system”.

Rand Water and Johannesburg Water on Sunday said that high water consumption by residents “is putting a strain on the system” and has resulted in significantly low water reservoir levels.

The companies have asked residents to save water by limiting their showers to two minutes, only flushing toilets after long calls and only washing cars on weekends using buckets.

The companies have also asked residents to stop filling swimming pools until water scarcity ends, avoid watering gardens and lawns with clean water and fix or report water leakages.

Johannesburg is currently under the yearly water restrictions, which often last during South Africa’s dry season between September and March.

In recent weeks, some of the city’s residents and institutions such as hospitals have gone without water, causing public discontent.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group

Foreign

Many Trapped, Scores Dead in Johannesburg Building Fire

By Web News 315

Emergency services in the South African city of Johannesburg say more than 60 people have died in a fire in a block of flats that’s also left many injured.

The authorities say it’s unclear what sparked the blaze at the five-storey building in the city centre in the early hours.

A firefighter has said that many of the victims of the Johannesburg fire were likely trapped by combustible shack-like structures that had been erected in the building.

“The picture is of an informal settlement inside the building.

“The combustible material which is burning inside the building is mostly like the one you find in a normal shack, so the risk of you being trapped as you try to escape is high,”

BBC / Titilayo Kupoliyi

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group

Foreign

Fire Kills Children Locked Inside South African Flat

By Web News 734

Two children, aged five and seven, have died in the South African city of Johannesburg after a fire broke out in a residential building where they had been left unattended and locked inside an apartment.

The blaze, in the inner city area of Hillbrow, began on Wednesday afternoon.

A reporter from South Africa’s Times Live has recently tweeted a video from the scene filmed after firefighters arrived:

Squatters often move into old and abandoned buildings in the area – which colloquially are said to have been “hijacked”.

Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda visited the scene later in the evening, commending firefighters for their efforts and saying Hillbrow’s old buildings did not meet health and safety standards.

“This particular property has been at the centre of the City [of Johannesburg’s] efforts to reclaim hijacked buildings from illegal occupants and crime syndicates,” New24 quoted him as saying.

The city’s emergency services say the children appear to have died from smoke inhalation and their bodies were later found “burnt beyond recognition”.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and the police are conducting investigations.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group

Foreign

Tiger on the Loose in South Africa Sparks Panic

By Web News 632

South African authorities are on the hunt for a privately owned tiger which escaped from a property in Walkerville south of Johannesburg.

The female tiger escaped after the fence was cut on Saturday night, local media reported.

It is said to have attacked a person. It also killed a dog and mauled another.

Animal care authorities have urged people not to approach the tiger on the loose for their own safety, as it is dangerous.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group