Health department spokesman Steve Mabona said some 20 people who suffered injury at the mall had been brought to the hospital, where the tornado destroyed the fence and carports and damaged about 20 vehicles belonging to employees, as well as three ambulances.
It collapsed the roof of part of the hospital and uprooted trees, he said, but patients were spared injury.
Mabona said ambulances from neighbouring areas had been dispatched to assist.
Spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni metro police department, Wilfred Kgasago, said the tornado struck Tembisa at around 4pm.
“At around 4pm this afternoon, a tornado hit Tembisa and damaged roofs at Phumlani Mall, Tembisa Hospital and at Total garage on RTJ Mamani Road."
Kgasago said no casualties had been reported so far.
He added: “We have not got more information about the extent of the damage caused at the Total garage but we got a report that the roof was also ripped off there.”
The SA Weather Service warned that the country would suffer stormy winter weather this week, with heavy rains and snowfalls forecast in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
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