Severe Rainfall Tears Gauteng Road Into 2, South Africans Shook: “Strait of Kruger”
- The severe rainfall in Mpumalanga has caused significant damage to infrastructure
- One of the roads was so badly damaged that it left a wide gap, making it impossible for vehicles to pass
- South Africans joked about the gap as the wet weather continues throughout the country
For seven years, Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, South Africa, covered a range of topics, including accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature, weather, and natural disaster-related incidents, at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
MPUMALANGA— South Africans joked about the extent of a road that was damaged by the rainfall in Mpumalanga. This was after the South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued multiple weather warnings, which affected Mpumalanga.
The Mountain Company posted a video of the gap, which is 15 metres wide, on its Facebook page on 20 April 2026. The damaged road is located between the R531 and the R40 north of Acornhoek and is located seven kilometres from the R531/ R40 junction.
View the video on Facebook here:
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SAWS issues a warning for Mpumalanga
The weather that damaged the road is expected to continue over the next few days. SAWS issued a Yellow Level 4 warning for Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and Gauteng on 21 April. The provinces will experience severe thunderstorms over the northern parts of Gauteng, the Lowveld and south-western parts of Limpopo and the north-eastern parts of Mpumalanga. Low-lying bridges and roads are expected to be flooded, and damaging winds and hail could severely affect infrastructure and informal settlements.
Mpumalanga has been experiencing downpours since December 2025. In January 2026, Mpumalanga and Limpopo were hit by severe weather, which destroyed roads and informal settlements. The death toll rose to over 15 as thundershowers accompanied by heavy rainfall battered the two provinces.
Source: Getty Images
South Africans joke
Netizens, as is common in South Africa, made jokes about the road. One even laughingly referred to it as a strait.
Frank Monareng said:
“So the rain has created a Strait of Kruger.”
Nkopane Tshehla laughed:
“This is when nature expropriates land without compensation.”
Jonathan Chetty said:
“If flash floods carved this in a few hours, then the Grand Canyon would have taken a month of flash floods to carve it.”
Heather Wilson was not surprised.
“Been waiting for this to happen for years, as a section of that bridge had been damaged about 4 or 5 years ago. All they had done in that time was put a yellow plastic barricade up, marking the damaged section on the side of the road. Further along that road towards Orpen, there is a more seriously damaged section where only one lane has been open for about five years.”
Sphe Ndoo said:
“R1 billion tender for a bridge incoming. The Madlanga Commission is about to expose another.”
Benita Hulme said:
“Now that was nicely cleaned up for civil to come do their thing. Stormwater pipe and a new road.”
Heavy rains batter Cape Town
In a related article, Briefly News reported that heavy rainfall in Cape Town damaged infrastructure in the townships. A video of the heavy water current travelling through a township went viral.
The video shows how the water continues to flow through streets, and South Africans called the Democratic Alliance’s Helen Zille out.
“This is due to the lack of a drainage system that Helen Zille should have built,” one netizen said.
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Source: Briefly News
