Govt calls on public to heed weather warnings to avoid emergencies
The Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Narend Singh is calling on the public to heed weather warnings and stall their travel plans if needs be.
Last week Wednesday, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a media release alerting the public about expected disruptive snow of 15 to 30cm over parts of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and Mpumalanga between Friday and Saturday.
The plea comes after thousands of travellers were stuck on the N3 along Van Reenen Pass over the weekend due to heavy snowfall.
Affected provinces include Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and the Eastern Cape.
On Saturday morning, several roads between Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal and Harrismith in the Free State, and the southern parts of Mpumalanga and Gauteng were closed due to heavy snowfall.
A 39-year-old woman died from hypothermia in hospital on Saturday after being stuck overnight in one of scores of vehicles trapped in heavy snowfall.
“We are saddened by the loss of life. One death is one too many. Our hearts go out to the deceased’s loved ones and all the members of the public that remain trapped in the snow covering parts of the country, especially the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands,” said Singh.
“It is of paramount importance for the public to normalise checking the weather forecast as they go about planning any outdoor activities including travel and mass events. Such information is disseminated several times each day on traditional and new media platforms to avoid the very dire situation we sadly find ourselves in”.
Since the incident over the weekend, thousands of South Africans have taken to social media to call on the government to ensure that measures are in place to prevent and deal with such weather and natural events when they happen.
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