Chapman’s Peak closed after rock fall

Chapman’s Peak in the Western Cape has been closed after a rock fall between Noordhoek and Hout Bay in Cape Town.

The rock fall comes after a strong cold front made landfall in Cape Town on Sunday night, with the South African Weather Service (Saws) warning residents of icy conditions sweeping over the province for the rest of the week.

The adverse weather conditions have brought intense strong winds and heavy downpours in most parts of the province.

“These cold fronts are expected to result in strong winds, high waves, heavy rainfall, light snow and a significant drop in temperatures,” warned the weather service.

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Chapman’s Peak reported the rockfall on Twitter.

They said an assessment will be conducted to determine the extent of the rockfall.

“The team will go out to do an assessment of the damage and give an indication of how long it will be closed and the extent of damage as well as any possible further risks of rockfalls.”

Meanwhile, social media users have been urged to refrain from sharing videos and pictures of an old rock fall on the stretch of road.

“Please stop sharing the rock falls from Chapman’s Peak from 2017 on WhatsApp. It’s not helping anyone.”

At the same time, Gautengers have been warned to brace for extremely chilly weather conditions from Wednesday, as a cold front makes its way inland from the Western Cape.

Gauteng Weather said Johannesburg will see temperatures of 2 degrees on Monday with the mercury plummeting to 0 on Wednesday and Thursday.

The freezing temperatures are also likely to put pressure on the electricity grid with Eskom last week warning that the national grid was under strain.

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