HEAVY SNOWFALLS WREAKS HAVOC IN SOUTH AFRICA’S EASTERN CAPE

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA, Aug 18 (NNN-SABC) — Heavy snowfalls have wreaked havoc in high-lying areas in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province with a number of mountain passes closed while residents and livestock on the foot of the Hogsburg Mountain range are battling to keep warm.

Among the closed passes are the Lootsberg on the N9 highway between Graaf Reinet and Middelburg, the Wapadsberg pass between Cradock and Graaf Reinet and Nico Malan pass between Fort Beaufort and Queenstown.

Sibongiseni Mngqodolo, a worried subsistence farmer from Kwa Nofestile, says farmers are worried about their livestock because they have nowhere to graze and have to be sheltered inside the farmers’ kraals. “It is going to be difficult for the animals to go to the fields. Another thing is that we live in mud homes which can collapse anytime. It is difficult to find wood and we also cannot rely on electricity.”

The South African Weather Service said Thursday that the current cold front will continue until next Wednesday in Northern Cape Province. A strong cold front made its way through Western Cape Province and caused temperatures to plummet across the country with light snow and cloudy conditions reported in Sutherland in Northern cape.

However, weather forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng says there is no more snowfall predicted in Sutherland. Conditions are actually partly cloudy at the moment. We expect no snowfall through the weekend, but we are going to keep an eye over the events that are going to develop next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are expecting cold conditions to come back over the province next Tuesday and Wednesday. Much of the western and central parts of the province will be cold.”

Most of the snowfall is predicted for Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal Province and the landlocked Kingdom of Lesotho which is completely surrounded by South Africa. The Weather Service is closely monitoring the Van Reenen’s Pass near Harrismith for possible snowfall.

Senior Forecaster Quinton Jacobs says the cold front is expected to clear up from Friday. The system is expected to move through today (Thursday). It is only affecting the extreme eastern part tomorrow. Temperatures are still going to be on the cold side, but to recover slowly. So, we should be reaching the cool category by about Sunday.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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