Snow made landfall in the province at the weekend, with icy cold temperatures expected in most parts of the country over the next few days.
The South African Weather Services (Saws) said the cold, wet and windy weather was expected to spread eastwards across South Africa.
“The much-anticipated cold front has made landfall over the western parts of South Africa, resulting in significant cooling in daytime temperatures as well as showers and rain,” Saws said on Saturday.
“Snow started to fall (Saturday) morning over the high lying areas of the Western and Northern Cape and is expected to spread to the high lying areas of the Eastern Cape later, where it could become disruptive in places. Snow will spread to the southern Drakensberg (Sunday), with light snowfall possible along the eastern Highveld and escarpment of Mpumalanga on Monday.”
Windy conditions were expected over the eastern interior of the country on Monday. Very cold conditions are expected across the Eastern Cape with widespread frost on Tuesday morning.
“Light snowfall is possible over the extreme eastern Highveld regions and the escarpment of Mpumalanga on Monday, where maximum temperatures will be below 7°C.”
The Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve in Paarl confirmed on social media that they experienced cold and wet weather with some snow falling early on Saturday on the mountains, as well as power outages in the district.
Meanwhile, Eskom also saw multiple faults that left customers in Driftsands, and Kleinmond without electricity supply due to inclement weather.
“Very cold, wet and windy conditions have affected the restoration efforts of Eskom technicians who are working around the clock to bring back electricity supply to customers in the affected areas.
“In Kleinmond, approximately 60 customers will be without electricity until (Sunday).
Technicians were forced to suspend repair work due to adverse weather conditions that compromised their safety.
“In Driftsands, muddy terrain is preventing access to the faulty line affecting electricity supply to customers. Technicians will be dispatched to assess the situation before commencing repairs under safe conditions,” Eskom said.
Cape Times