CITIZEN REPORTER and SAPA

JOHANNESBURG - The Cape province remains firmly in the grip of a cold spell, with reports of snow in areas and authorities forced to close several mountain passes earlier this week.

Traffic authorities closed six mountain passes to traffic on Monday – including the Outeniqua, Robertson, Potjiesberg, Swartberg, Ou Montague and Du Vlucht passes, but were cautiously reopening some as conditions improved.

There have also been reports of heavy snowfalls in the Eastern Cape, and Sapa reports that the Karoo town of Uniondale became “snowed under” after temperatures plummeted on Monday.

“Of course, the first thing I did was go and build a snowman... and then we drove around and looked at everyone else’s snowmen. Every house had a snowman... many adorned with South African flags and vuvuzelas,” Uniondale resident Saffron Beatson told the wire agency.

Eastern Cape traffic authorities have reported several road closures at the Nico Malan, Lootsberg, Wapadsberg, Penhoek and Barkly passes because of the snow. There have also been several traffic accidents in the province over the past two days as a result of the weather.

Weather forecasters are waiting for further data before declaring whether any snow records have been broken this year.

Very cold conditions are expected to continue over most of the country today, with light showers expected along coastal areas. The weather office has also warned of possible black frost in the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, western KwaZulu-Natal and southern Limpopo.