South Africa's financial hub Johannesburg has hit a record high temperature of 38C, the South African Weather Service says, as a drought persists in Africa's largest producer of maize.
The previous record of 36.5C was recorded in November 2015, the weather service said on Thursday.
Temperatures in the capital Pretoria scaled a new high of 42.5C, from a previous record of 41, with the latest rolling heat wave to scorch South Africa expected to last until Friday.
South Africa may need to import as much as five million tonnes of maize this year, roughly half of its requirements, because of its worst drought in three decades, the country's largest producer group said on Wednesday.
