Motorists urged to be ‘extra careful’ on the roads during snowfall in Gauteng

While many Joburgers share their delight and surprise at the unusual snowfall bearing down on the city and parts of the country, motorists have been urged to be cautious while travelling on the roads.

Gauteng woke up to a winter wonderland on Monday after snow hit the city and many parts of the province amid the cold front engulfing the country.

Many took to social media to share videos and snaps of snow in areas such as Melville, Sandton, Parktown, Alberton and Krugersdorp.

The Eastern Cape transport department warned drivers to approach the province’s mountain passes with extra caution as snowfall continues to cause havoc on some roads.

The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) cautioned the city's motorists to be “extra careful” on the roads.

The JRA also issued navigation tips to help make driving easier. These include using fog lights, watching out for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, manoeuvring gently, slowing down and leaving extra distance between you and the driver in front of you.

“Do not drive on the taillights of the vehicle in front,” the JRA cautioned.

The N3 toll concession warned motorists of “extremely cold and icy conditions” along the N3 between Cedara and Heidelberg. 

City Power has provided an update on how the cold weather has affected operations across the city.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said: “City Power teams in service delivery centres have so far managed the high demand for electricity very well with fewer outages reported across Johannesburg overnight and on the weekend”.

“After the coldest night on Sunday, we opened this morning [Monday] with less than 1,000 outage calls (928), with problematic areas such Roodepoort, Hursthill and Randburg reporting an average of 100 calls each this morning.

“Our teams will continue to be on high alert with more resources directed to problematic areas as adverse temperatures are set to continue in the coming days. We are seeing more calls coming from Bromhof and surrounds, parts of Parktown and the Reuven area. Teams are attending to those,” Mangena said.

Eskom reassured residents the plummeting temperatures were “unlikely” to impact on the severity of load-shedding.

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