Durban - KWAZULU-NATAL residents should brace themselves for more cold and rainy conditions this week, says the South African Weather Service (SAWS).
The province has been experiencing rainy weather over the past week.
According to SAWS forecaster Ayanda Nsele, the cold and wet weather was not expected to abate soon.
Nsele said that today there would be a 30% chance of rain and showers over the eastern parts of the province.
This included areas such as Pietermaritzburg, Midlands, the Drakensberg, Newcastle and Ladysmith.
However, she said that it would be much warmer over the western and northern parts of the province as temperatures were expected to rise.
“The good news is that from Tuesday and Wednesday, there is no rain expected across the province. However, the grey skies are expected to remain which might lead to cold conditions,” said Nsele.
She said that as from Thursday going into the weekend, there was a 60% chance of rain especially in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and in Margate, on the South Coast.
KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) spokesperson Senzo Mzila said that as from Friday, there had been no major incidents reported as a result of heavy rains in the province.
Mzila said that the department placed disaster management teams on high alert after an advisory issued by SAWS on Thursday.
“We are still going to continue to have our teams on high alert to monitor the situation across the province,” said Mzila.
Meanwhile KZN Transport, Community
Safety and Liaison spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said there had been a number of road accidents over the weekend as a result of the rain.
Ncalane said that even though there were not many fatalities reported, the department was concerned about the increase in accidents.
He said that there were also issues involving a number of roads that were not drivable and bridges under water.
He appealed to motorists to exercise extra caution on the roads.
The Mercury