Sinegugu Ndlovu and Mercury Correspondents
Two weeks after KwaZulu-Natal was battered by snow and icy rain, the province was in the grip of a cold spell again yesterday.
The N3 highway from Colenso to the Frere interchange was closed from 5am as snow and rain fell over Van Reenen’s Pass, Mooi River and Cathedral Peak, making roads extremely slippery. About 10 trucks and 15 cars were stuck in Van Reenen’s Pass from early morning as a result.
The alternative N11 route via Ladysmith was also closed.
Both routes were, however, re-opened at 1pm with a warning from the N3 Toll Concession that drivers should travel with care as conditions were poor.
Emergency services, the road traffic inspectorate, the police and the military collaborated to manage the situation.
“There’s no congestion. Everything has subsided”, said Road Traffic Inspectorate spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu.
KZN Education Department spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said 31 schools in the uThukela (Ladysmith) district had closed, as had 27 in the Sisonke (Ixopo) district, seven in Mount Currie and five in Entsikeni (Kokstad), because of snow and blocked roads.
KZN Disaster Management head Mthokozisi Duze said the team received no reports of people stranded or in distress.
Netcare911 spokesman Chris Botha said a man was seriously injured in an accident on Van Reenen’s Pass when a bakkie slid off the road. A heavy goods truck then slid into the bakkie.
The man was still trapped in the bakkie with serious injuries and signs of hypothermia when paramedics arrived. He was taken to a hospital in Bethlehem.
ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said 46 farm workers suffered moderate injuries when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned on Kamberg Road outside Rosetta. The workers were found trying to keep warm as snow fell and temperatures dropped to 2ºC. They were treated for minor cuts and bruises.
Weather forecaster Wisani Maluleka said snow started falling in the Berg region on Sunday around noon. In Durban 48mm of rain fell. “We expect the weather to clear by tomorrow afternoon (today). But there’s a 30 percent chance of rainfall along the coast and in the north,” he said.
Temperatures in the eastern part of the province, including Durban, Richards Bay and Pietermaritzburg, would rise and should reach 20ºC. In the west – which includes Ladysmith, Newcastle and Giants Castle – maximum temperatures should reach 13ºC. No further snowfalls were expected today.
Elsewhere, snow
caused more excitement than problems in Joburg yesterday.
It fell mainly in the areas to the south of Joburg but was “not enough to build snowmen or block a road”, locals said.
At around 11am Hassen Cassim of Mondeor said excitedly: “It lasted about 30 minutes and it was actual snow. I posted a picture on Facebook.”
In Orlando East residents were confused about whether snow or ice had fallen.
Jan Vermeulen of the SA Weather Service said a low pressure system yesterday had caused mainly rainfall and hail – mostly in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and south of the Limpopo.