Five dead after heavy snow in South Africa causes accident, power outages

By Siyanda Mthethwa

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -A severe cold front sweeping across South Africa since the weekend brought heavy snowfall, which has led to road closures, power outages and a fatal road accident, officials said.

Five people were killed in a road accident along the N2 highway due to the adverse weather, Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday.

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The South African Weather Service warned citizens late last week there would be a big drop in temperatures this week across the country, accompanied by disruptive rain, damaging winds, and snow over eastern areas.

South Africa regularly receives snowfall during its winter months from June through August, with temperatures diving below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).

Snow has been reported since Monday across provinces including Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State, prompting closures along sections of the N2 highway that connects the provinces, according to the KwaZulu-Natal transport department.

Power utility Eskom said in a post on X that it was "experiencing a high number of customer calls nationally, due to widespread power outages caused by inclement weather."

More resources were being secured to ensure prompt resolution to the power outages, Eskom said.

The weather service forecast that the cold front would persist through midweek.

(Reporting by Siyanda Mthethwa; Additional reporting by Sfundo Parakozov and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Bernadette Baum)

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Thumbnail is a file photo taken on July 8, 2024 near Ceres, South Africa. It is courtesy of REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo.