Durban — As KwaZulu-Natal is still recovering from the recent snow that left a trail of destruction and two people dead, the province is now bracing itself for inclement weather in the coming days.
The SA Weather Service issued a level 4 warning with rains and snowfall expected in KZN and the Eastern Cape.
Amid the warning, MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said the province was on high alert.
“Following last weekend’s heavy snowfall that resulted in thousands of motorists being trapped along the N3 and other major routes, we have decided to strengthen our road safety measures,” said Duma.
Duma said the provincial government had received the weather alert from the SA Weather Services about the expected snow in Ladysmith, Underberg, Drakensberg, Giant’s Castle, and other high-ground areas.
“As the Department of Transport, we have internalised the fact that erratic weather patterns caused by climate change require agility, discipline, and dedication from all categories of staff in the department,” said Duma.
Speaking about the state of readiness, Duma said: “The Road Incident Management Systems (RIMS) led by Sanral and consisting of all key role players on the national, provincial and municipal road networks is already harmonising one plan.
“The Road Safety and Traffic Inspectorate is already involved in the co-ordination of possible road closures and observation of major routes in consultation with N3 Toll Concession,” he said.
“The focus is on the N3 between Harrismith, Tugela Toll, the R617 between Kokstad and Underberg, N2 Ingeli and N3 Mooi River, and others.”
The South African National Taxi Council and bus associations had strengthened their road safety measures, said Duma.
“We do not want to leave out port operators and the entire value chain of fast-moving consumer goods. Our economy is driven largely through the transport and logistics sectors based on the two major ports housed in the province, namely the Port of Richards Bay and the Port of Durban.
“Most climatologists and weather experts agree that this province has never experienced a heavy snowfall. We have assigned our engineers in consultation with Sanral to look at the impact of the recent heavy snowfall on our road infrastructure and give us a report.”
The Daily News’s sister publication the Sunday Tribune quoted meteorologist Celeste Fourie as saying, “For the Midlands and northern interior of KZN, we are expecting some thunderstorms to become severe. The most impact we expect with them is damaging winds, excessive lightning and heavy downpours.
"A light sprinkling of snow can be expected on the southern Drakensberg and Underberg, but it is not expected to fall on the towns or to block the highway as it did last week.”
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