Cold and stormy weather that hit the Eastern Cape on the weekend has claimed three lives so far, police said on Monday.
Two men apparently died from the cold near Mthatha on Sunday, while a woman was killed in a storm in the province’s Ngcobo area.
”The bodies of the two men, aged 30 and 50, were found on the side of the road yesterday morning [Sunday] in Sigubudwinini locality in Mthatha,” police spokesperson Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said.
”We suspect they died because of the very cold weather. No foul play is suspected.” The two were apparently returning home from different local drinking spots.
On Saturday night, a 64-year-old woman died when strong winds collapsed her home in Ngcobo. Three others were injured.
”Roofs were ripped off homes, whole structures came down, cars were damaged,” Fatyela said. Eskom cables and trees were uprooted. At least ten cars and about 100 homes were damaged.
By Monday afternoon, snow that had been falling over the province overnight was beginning to clear up, the South African Weather Service said.
”We are not expecting any further snow over the northern parts of the Eastern Cape, including Elliot and Barkly East. It is beginning to clear already,” said spokesperson Evert Scholtz.
About 20cm of snow reportedly fell at the Tiffendell Ski Resort near Rhodes.
Snow had also fallen on the Drakensberg and in Lesotho.
Scholtz said the weather in the rest of the country would improve during the week, despite heavy rains in parts of KwaZulu-Natal. ”Some parts of the province have experienced heavy rains, which began on Sunday.”
He said that it was still raining in some parts of the province, however ”the rain is expected to clear up from this afternoon”.
Temperatures in the interior of the country were also expected to start rising.
”There will be a temperature recovery from Wednesday onwards for most of the country,” he said.
He said there was a possibility of frost over the Free State and parts of the North West and Mpumalanga on Tuesday.
A cold front was expected to reach Cape Town on Thursday. ”It will not be as severe as the previous one; it will slide to the south-east.”
Temperatures for Pretoria were expected to rise to 23 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, while temperatures for Johannesburg would also rise.
”By Saturday temperatures are expected to peak at 24 degrees,” said Scholtz. — Sapa