Durban

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has announced that highly efficient and dedicated teams are on standby with an expected drop in temperatures later this week, with a possibility of snow.

While the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has not issued an official weather warning, the weather service predicts the possibility of snow over the high lying areas of the Western Cape from 29 September 2024, which will spread into the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal by 30 September 2024.

Addressing a media briefing on Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said the Road Incident Management Systems (RIMS) led by South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) comprising of all key role players on the national, provincial, and municipal road networks were putting together a consolidated plan.

“They are identifying areas where joint operations and coordination will be established - covering all notorious roads and areas identified from past experiences. 

“The department's Road Traffic Inspectorate is establishing a satellite centre on top of Van Reenen’s Pass to ensure quick action and road closure to mitigate against people getting trapped in the snow,” the MEC said.

This satellite centre will start operating on Saturday afternoon and operate on a 12-hour shift.

Traffic law enforcement officials are already involved in the coordination of possible road closures and observation of major routes in consultation with the N3 Toll Concession. 

“The focus is on the N3 between Harrismith, Tugela Toll, R617 between Kokstad and Underberg, N2 Ingeli and N3 Mooi River, and others. We wish to indicate that the team will also be responsible for escorting trucks and vehicles to ensure that there is no congestion on the road. 

“However, members of the public and motorists are urged to reschedule or postpone their journeys in anticipation of any eventuality. Prevention is better than cure.

“Motor graders are currently being sharpened to respond with … urgency to remove any snow before accumulating on the road. More than 10 graders will be stationed in identified routes to ensure that our response is faster,” the MEC said.

The province has 21 graders which will be on standby as part of strengthening prevention measures.

“On Wednesday, we interacted with SAWS. They informed us that KwaZulu-Natal will be affected by snowfall from Monday into Tuesday. The areas that are expected to be affected include Ladysmith, Underberg, Drakensberg as well as Giant Castle, and other high-ground area.

“In addition, they emphasised that, in all likelihood, snowfall will stop on Tuesday but will be followed by rainfall in various parts of the province, including Durban and other coastline areas,” Duma said.

The MEC said the provincial government has started engaging with key stakeholders to ensure that everyone works together to avoid any crisis and ensure the safety of road users.

“We have continuous engagements with road freight industry stakeholders such as operators - trucking companies – companies that are managing and supplying drivers.

“The South African National Taxi Council and bus councils, bus and truck associations are key stakeholders as we strengthen our road safety measures. We do not want to leave out port operators and the entire value chain of fast-moving consumer goods,” Duma said.

The provincial government has assigned engineers in consultation with SANRAL to look at the impact of the recent heavy snowfall on the road infrastructure.

“The truck congestion on N3 last weekend compels us to intensify our plans aimed at modernisation and development of rail transport – both freight and passenger.

“Working with the Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and other main roleplayers, as KwaZulu-Natal we believe that we must ensure that we deploy wagons to move cargo from road to rail, with a specific focus on certain goods, such as coal.

“In addition, we want to improve rail services in the province so that it could serve as the backbone of public transport while at the same time recognising the huge challenges currently facing commuter rail services in KwaZulu-Natal and throughout the country,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za

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