SAWS Warns of Tropical Cyclone Developing Near Madagascar, Netizens Worried

• The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned the country that a severe tropical storm has been detected off the coast of Madagascar
• The storm is currently located north-east of Madagascar with winds averaging 89 kilometres per hour
• SAWS said the country is still out of danger as it is further east of the country, and The Weather Hooligan gave his opinion on how the cyclone will travel in the next few days

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature, weather and natural disaster-related incidents at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

JOHANNESBURG—The South African Weather Service (SAWS) said a tropical storm near Madagascar is expected to become a tropical cyclone by 11 January 2025. SAWS said the country is currently out of danger as the cyclone is still far from it.

Cyclone developing outside Madagascar

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SAWS shared a post on its Facebook page warning that the tropical storm is northeast of Madagascar. It is travelling with destructive winds averaging between 89 and 118 kilometres per hour. SAWS predicted that it could be a cyclone by 11 January. The storm, called Dikeledi, is expected to bring destructive winds ranging from 118 to 166 kilometres per hour. It could be in the Mozambique channel by 13 January.

The Weather Hooligan speaks to Briefly News

Briefly News spoke to storm chaser Juandre Vorster, also known as The Weather Hooligan, who gave his opinion on the cyclone's development. He predicted the cyclone's development and shared the prediction with Briefly News on 8 January, two days before SAWS announced its development. He said it started developing a few days ago. He shared a video making the prediction.

View the video here.

"A few days ago, it started a rotational storm effect in the Indian Ocean, slowly picking p strength. It was noticed and monitored by many weather apps. It's taken a sudden turn in the Mozambique channel, and we can only hope it doesn't go past because the KwaZulu-Natal infrastructure is not ready for another hit. But possibilities are always there as weather is always unpredictable," he said.

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He hoped that it would make a U-turn and go in a south-easterly direction when exiting the channel.

Severe weather conditions in 2024

• SAWS issued a warning for severe thunderstorms across much of the country on 17 December 2024, which were accompanied by heavy rainfall
• The wet weather conditions persisted until Christmas across provinces including Gauteng, Mpimalanga and KwaZulu Natal
• SAWS issued a Yellow Level 5 warning for disruptive rain to continue across the country in the first week of 2025

South Africans discuss the storm

Netizens on Facebook shared their views on the storm.

Katlego Keorapetse said:

"I hope its remnants will bring a lot of rain in Southern Africa."

Maka Minenhle Aneh said:

"Horrors in South Africa as usual. Even the sunset in SA affects us."

Salas Suleiman Trismegistus said:

"Let's pray that it doesn't cause too much damage."

Brian De Jager said:

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"A slight offset to this may be rain in store for us."

Tornado sighted in Eastern Cape

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a tornado passed through a village in the Eastern Cape earlier in 2025. A video of the tornado was shared on social media. South Africans were worried about the weather phenomenon.

The Weather Hooligan spoke to Briefly News and shared tips on how residents can stay safe during a tornado. He urged residents to stay away from the tornado and evacuate the building if it passes through their village.

Source: Briefly News