By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South African Weather Service (SAWS) has warned of severe thunderstorms, hail, heavy downpours, and strong winds across parts of the country.
Severe thunderstorms, which might lead to gusty winds, are expected in Gauteng, the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and the Free State.
“Another warning we have on Sunday, is some disruptive snow which might lead to dangerous driving conditions in the Eastern Cape. We are also expecting damaging winds over the interior of Namaqua, Northern Cape and the Matsikama municipality in the Western Cape,” warned forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela.
“We are expecting severe thunderstorms over the western parts of the North West province, spreading over the Northern Cape, with disruptive snow still remaining around at the Drakensberg mountain. Cold conditions are expected to affect Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.”
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Cooperative Governance said, “the disruptive rain will affect the following municipalities – eThekwini metro, Ray Nkonyeni, Umzumbe, Umdoni, kwaDukuza, Mandeni, Maphumulo, Mkhambathini, Ndwedwe, uMlalazi, Big 5 Hlabisa, uMhlathuze and Inkosi Mtubatuba local municipalities.”
The latest warning comes just days after over a thousand homes were destroyed by similar weather, which resulted in the loss of at least eight lives.
Meanwhile developing nations have continually called for more support for the financing of their fight against climate change, yet the funding targets pledged by developed countries are still not being met, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said.
The minister, who was addressing the national stakeholder consultations before the UN climate meeting, said that, as with all Conference of the Parties, finance would remain a key issue at COP28, which starts on 30 November in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The deadline for agreeing upon this goal is 2024, and the success of this COP, and perhaps future climate talks, will depend on the outcome,” Creecy said on Thursday.