Winter Heating Alert: Staying Warm, Safely

South Africa is bracing for another round of icy cold fronts between 3 and 6 July 2025, with the South African Weather Service warning of sub-zero nights across Gauteng, Mpumalanga highveld and parts of the Western and Eastern Cape. As temperatures plunge, many households, especially those in informal settlements, rely on makeshift heaters, braziers, paraffin stoves and gas canisters. Used incorrectly, these lifelines can turn deadly.

Recent tragedies underline the risk

• Henley Dam, KwaZulu-Natal (2 July 2025): Seven men aged 17-50 died inside a rondavel after lighting a wood fire for warmth; investigators believe smoke inhalation and oxygen starvation were the cause.

• Pietermaritzburg (30 June 2025): Another seven young men succumbed to fumes from a brazier (“imbawula”) in a backyard room during a cold snap.(dailymaverick.co.za)

• Kayamandi, Stellenbosch (25 June 2025): A shack blaze sparked by an open-flame heater killed an eight-year-old and left more than 120 people homeless.

These are not isolated incidents. Across sub-Saharan Africa an estimated 6 000 deaths each year are linked to carbon-monoxide (CO) poisoning from charcoal, wood, paraffin and gas used indoors.

Why alternative heating can be lethal

Hazard	How it happens	Symptoms / outcome
Smoke inhalation	Poorly-ventilated wood or coal fires fill rooms with particulate-laden smoke.	Coughing, headaches, respiratory distress; severe cases lead to asphyxiation.
Carbon-monoxide poisoning	Paraffin stoves, LPG heaters, charcoal braziers and gas burners release CO when oxygen is limited.	“Silent” symptoms, dizziness, nausea, confusion, progressing to coma and death.
Oxygen depletion	Any open flame consumes oxygen; sealed rooms drop below safe levels.	Fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of consciousness.
Fire outbreak	Unstable stoves, leaking gas cylinders, fallen candles or braziers ignite flammable shack materials.	Rapid shack-to-shack spread, burns, displacement, fatalities.

“It is tempting to shut every window during cold nights, but please leave one slightly open—your life may depend on it,” warns Eskom energy-safety specialist Tebogo Moahlodi.

Five life-saving tips for safer heating

1. Ventilation is non-negotiable. Keep a window or door ajar whenever a paraffin stove, gas heater, imbawula or charcoal brazier is burning.

2. Never sleep with an active flame, extinguish fires and turn off gas or paraffin appliances before bed.

3. Place heaters on a stable, non-flammable surface away from curtains, bedding and plastic walls.

4. Check and service gas equipment. A yellow flame or weak blue flame signals incomplete combustion and CO production.

5. Install a battery-powered CO alarm if possible; they cost less than a grocery basket and give crucial early warnings.

Know the danger signs

• Sudden headache, dizziness, nausea or confusion in a closed room

• Unusual fatigue or collapse while a heater is onIf these occur, get everyone into fresh air immediately and call emergency services.

Community action

• Check on neighbours, elderly residents and young children succumb fastest to CO.

• Report cracked gas pipes, leaking cylinders and unsafe fires to local ward councillors or disaster-management lines.

• Share this information in local languages at churches, schools and taxi ranks; awareness saves lives.

As the mercury dips this winter, staying warm should not cost lives. With ventilation, vigilance and a few low-cost precautions, families can beat the cold front, safely.