The weather service says people should not underestimate the forces of nature as the summer lightning season starts.

The country sees around 18 million ground strikes a year with at least 300 fatalities annually.

Three women were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and five school children died in Cameroon this month because of lightning strikes.

The weather service's Estelle Deconing said people should be cautious because about a dozen people die from lightning strikes in Gauteng every year.

Check out iafrica.com's detailed weather forecast for Pretoria and Johannesburg. Find what the weather is like in your neck of the woods on iafrica.com weather.