Days after celebrating the beginning of spring, inclement weather has sneaked in suddenly with very cold and rainy weather hitting most parts of the country.
IOL reported earlier on Friday that Gauteng residents have been urged to be cautious when using heating devices as the cold snap has hit the economic heartbeat province of South Africa.
Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson Makhaya Komisa urged motorists to be vigilant, particularly on the N2 highway in Gqeberha which is partially closed due to rough seas and rising tides.
On Friday morning, SA Weather Service senior forecaster Wayne Venter said the cold snap is not uncommon.
“It is not unusual for this time of the year to get quite significant cold fronts and systems like cut-off lows. They usually occur over transition seasons, especially September and October,” Venter spoke to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
He said around this period last year, the southern parts of Gauteng experienced light snow.
“This time around, yet again, we have this cut-off low, a cold front that is moving through parts of the country today (Friday) and tomorrow and that is going to drop temperatures quite significantly, especially over parts of Free State, KZN (KwaZulu-Natal), Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and even Gauteng today,” said Venter.
“We expect even a further drop in temperatures tomorrow, with more cloud cover and rain moving in over the eastern parts of the country.”
With this system, Venter added that South Africans can also expect “quite significant snowfall” in some areas. The disruptive snowfall is expected to hit parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Eastern Cape.
On the lighter side, the SA Weather Service said the inclement should be clearing by Sunday.
“It’s not going be cold on Sunday. We are still going to have some cloud cover, especially over the eastern parts but then from Monday temperatures should start recovering quite quickly and sunshine should return to the eastern parts of South Africa,” said Venter.
Meanwhile, Joburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the drop in temperatures means residents will be tempted to use all sorts of heating devices to warm themselves against the extremely cold temperatures. He said in attempting to get warm, residents become vulnerable to fire incidents in their homes.
“We therefore would like to urge all our residents to use all heating devices safely, that is heaters, imbaula, paraffin stoves, and candles – not to leave them unattended while in use to prevent fire incidents at home during these extremely cold temperatures,” said Mulaudzi.
Among several tips shared to encourage safety, the Joburg EMS appealed to residents to keep burning candles out of reach of children and pets; do not leave young children unattended in a room with a lit candle; and to store candles, matches and lighters away from the reach of children.
Residents have also been urged to use safe containers to store paraffin, to avoid illegal connection of electricity and to report incidents of illegal electricity connection.
“Do not leave a heater unattended while in use, it might cause fire at home,” said Mulaudzi.
IOL