Two brothers who fled to a nearby military base during the storm that wreaked havoc in parts of Joburg died when a large tree fell on their car as they waited for the storm to pass.
The 25m tree fell on their double-cab bakkie on Saturday night, squashing it and trapping the two men inside.
General Phillip Baloyi of 21 South African Infantry Battalion in Lenasia said they were siblings.
He added the tree fell directly onto the car, completely covering it, and even if paramedics had arrived at the scene immediately afterwards, they would not have saved the occupants' lives.
“The tree fell so hard on the Toyota double cab that there was nothing that could have been done to assist them,” said Baloyi.
The shattered windscreen of the deceased's vehicle and the huge tree lay near to where the tragedy occurred.
According to Joburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson Nana Radebe, the two men had stopped their car thinking the storm would subside, but it didn’t.
“The tree was very big and it took the EMS one to two hours to remove it and extricate the deceased from the crushed vehicle. The two men died instantly,” said Radebe.
Meanwhile, many people in various parts of Soweto yesterday continued to pick up the pieces of their broken homes and shattered lives.
Joburg's disaster management team was in Protea Glen, Soweto, to assist the affected families.
Broken roof tiles and bricks from the destroyed houses lay scattered while residents stood outside pondering what to do next.
Tshepo Motlhale, the divisional chief at disaster management, said they were trying to calm the affected residents and assist them as best they could.
Some of the damaged homes were not insured, and the departments of housing and human settlements were trying to find a solution.
“We are also putting up salvage sheets on the roofs of the damaged homes to prevent further damage to the contents of the houses.
“Insurance companies will also team up to assist the desperate parties to provide emergency accommodation.
"We are also putting up temporary tents for those who are desperate and have nowhere to go,” said Motlhale.
Despite previous reports stating that 30-40 houses were damaged, Motlhale said they were still assessing and investigating the extent of the damage and the number of houses damaged.
Meanwhile, Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba wants an investigation into contractors involved in building some of the houses damaged in the storm.
He said the city’s group risk advisory services would conduct a full risk assessment of the damage, and a preliminary report was expected by Friday.
He said the report would contain the full extent of the damage and whether the event needed to be declared a provincial or national disaster.
Early on Sunday, Mashaba conducted an inspection of the damage in Lenasia, Soweto and Westbury. He also met provincial disaster centre officials and Gauteng provincial departments to chart a way forward for the displaced residents.
The provincial government was providing tents and temporary shelter, food parcels and blankets to the displaced residents, he said.
Mashaba pointed out that a multi-organisational approach was necessary to address the matter.
“The city’s group risk advisory services will also conduct an investigation into the quality of some of the buildings which collapsed as a result of the storm, particularly the identities of the contractors involved in the construction of some of these buildings.
"The city’s role in issuing certificates of occupation which affirm the safety of these buildings; and the role of financial institutions, such as lenders and banks who funded the construction of some of these poor-quality buildings will also be probed,” Mashaba said. - Additional reporting by African News Agency/ANA