Waves of cold fronts batter country, thousands displaced

THE PAST week has seen the whole country battered by one cold front after the other following hot on the heels of those of the past few weeks.

The SA Weather Service (Saws) and meteorologists are warning that it could become worse before it becomes better.

This as the week, which also marked the start of the third term of the school calendar, kicked off with rain and strong winds in areas and extreme cold across the country, forcing parts of the Western Cape to close schools and relocate residents.

Meteorologists issued an up to Level 8 warning for the the Cape, characterised by disruptive rain, strong winds and mudslides.

"Winter in that part of the county is always wet, but what we are seeing right now is extreme," meteorologist Dr Sandaya Naidoo said.

The phenomenon, he said, was linked to many factors: "Global warming, and of course on the part of metros and government in general a lack of planning, is what has led to the mudslides, displacements, and closure of schools and houses coming down around residents."

On the topic of global warming, Naidoo said this was misunderstood, as opposed to being ignored, by countries across Africa and the world s it was seen more as a foreign concept than one close to home.

He said: "When, decades ago, the issues around caring for the environment, preserving nature, and generally being aware were made, and as meetings and seminars to raise awareness were made, little attention was paid by countries globally.

“The weather phenomenon has always been accepted as natural, but when topics of degradation, minding carbon footprints, preserving forests and other natural resources were raised, it flew over our heads. Sadly, what we see now and what we've seen in KwaZulu-Natal over the last two years or so, is the result of global neglect.”

He said it was unfortunate that no matter which country broke the laws, ignored warnings and increased emissions, the results were far reaching.

"For instance, we can talk about reduction of the world's largest forest, the Amazon, and higher than high carbon emission in the western world, in Asia or Europe, that affects the world, whether they participate in degradation or not."

Industrialisation, he further said, was higher in the west, but it hit Africa hard.

Meanwhile, Saws said the current cold, wet, wind and snow would abate by Sunday but they continued to monitor satellites and could not rule out further adverse conditions before the winter was out.