Many residents of Gauteng woke up on Wednesday morning to a layer of snow turning lawns, rooftops and cars white, while the South African Weather Service predicted a freezing day with temperatures staying below eight degrees Celsius in Johannesburg.
Some Johannesburg residents phoned radio stations and told of waking up their children at 1am to play in the snow outside. Snow was reported on the East Rand, in Roodepoort and in Pretoria, while rooftops in Rosebank sparkled with a white layer early on Wednesday morning.
The cold snap also caused more power failures, with Bedfordview residents experiencing their third power failure in a matter of days.
Pretoria was the northern-most point of the snowfall, South African Weather Service forecaster Siyabonga Mthetwa told the Mail & Guardian Online on Wednesday morning. Snow like this last occurred in Gauteng on September 10 1981, he said.
No more snowfall is expected to fall in Gauteng, he added, as the weather system is on its way out to sea.
Early-morning temperatures in the province are likely to fall sharply on Thursday, the weather service said. Daytime temperatures, however, are expected to recover gradually from Thursday onwards.
In the Free State, Bloemfontein had already seen sleet falling by lunchtime on Tuesday with temperatures hovering at about three degrees Celsius. Various places in central and southern Free State reported snow and sleet, and in Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape snow had started to fall at about 11.30am on Tuesday. It was still snowing by late afternoon. “It’s a fairyland, our own Alps,” said resident Johan Hattingh.
Snowfalls were also reported from Rhodes, Sterkspruit, Aliwal North, Tarkastad and Barkly East.
Roads closed
A number of Eastern Cape roads were closed to motorists due to snow on Wednesday morning, the provincial transport department said.
Spokesperson Tshepo Machea said the roads included the N9 between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg, the R61 between Cradock and Graaff-Reinet and the N6 between Jamestown and Queenstown.
The Nico Malan Pass on the R67 between Seymour and Fort Beaufort, and the R58 between Lady Grey and Elliot were also closed.
Machea said drivers should use the N2 between Mount Ayliff and Kokstad with caution as it was still snowing in the area with only one lane in use.
Several roads in KwaZulu-Natal also had to be closed to traffic. Roads closed were the R103 from Nottingham Road to Mooi River in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the R617 from Underberg to Kokstad, the N2 from Port Shepstone to Kokstad, and the R56 from Umzimkulu to Kokstad, traffic spokesperson Rajen Chinaboo said.
This means Kokstad is a no-go area as all major roads leading in and out of the town are closed due to the snow.
“It is still snowing and motorists are advised to exercise caution while driving on the roads as we have had minor collisions due to the weather,” Chinaboo said.
Snowfalls were expected on the mountains of the Eastern Cape, in Lesotho, on the Drakensberg and in the eastern Free State overnight and on Wednesday morning.
Along the coast, Wednesday is expected to bring gale-force south-westerly winds between Port Alfred and Maputo, with very rough seas from Port Elizabeth to Port St Johns.
Also on Wednesday, very cold conditions are expected over the central interior, the high ground of the Western Cape, the southern and western high ground of the Northern Cape, the northern parts of the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, the Free State, southern Mpumalanga, southern Gauteng, south-western parts of North West province and the western high ground of KwaZulu-Natal.
Heavy falls of rain are possible in places along the coast and adjacent interior of KwaZulu-Natal.
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