Johannesburg emergency services had their hands full attending to incidents – mostly assaults and car crashes – which often mark the end of the year.

Spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said the city has‚ so far‚ recorded three deaths during the New Year celebration period.

One person was fatally stabbed at a New Year’s Eve concert in Newtown‚ while another man fell from the sixth floor of a building in Hillbrow.

Mulaudzi said a third person‚ believed to be the owner of a hotel in Hillbrow‚ was killed in a shootout.

“We attended to a large number of assault incidents. Our personnel attended to over 80 incidents‚” he said.

“More than 20 motor vehicle accidents without fatalities were reported through our emergency call centre.”

Mulaudzi said despite persistent rainfall in Johannesburg from Monday‚ emergency services had not received any calls for help related to the weather.

“We are monitoring our low-lying areas‚ including informal settlements and areas such as Kliptown‚ Alexandra and Diepsloot.

“We have got disaster management teams to monitor water levels so they can attend to any emergencies that might occur.”

Mulaudzi warned motorists to exercise extreme caution on the road and not to cross bridges or crossings that were flooded.

He said emergency services did not know of any incidents related to the use of fireworks during the night.

“We are very happy. From December 27‚ the (municipality) had been visiting wholesalers selling firecrackers to check on their compliance certificates‚” he said.

Source: TMG Digital.