Three die as icy front and rains hit EC

An icy front with strong winds and heavy rains has left three people dead and caused flooding in low-lying shack areas and homes.

One villager, who was said to have fallen into a slumber on the way home from a shebeen, was found close to death after surviving temperatures that fell to 11.7°C, and even lower with wind chill factored in, on Sunday night.

Attempts to revive him failed yesterday.

Eskom reported 126490 homes in the province were without power and the utility was working to restore lines. Light snow fell on the southern Drakensburg, including Tiffendell ski resort.

Gusting wind ripped roofs off and rain flooded roads in East London. In Oxford Street traffic was reduced to a single lane as commuters avoided a lake of water in front of the city hall, while in Fleet Street earthworks covering a pipe across the road had washed away leaving a dangerous gutter.

Sections of road near Ebuhlanti were covered in sheets of water.

In Middledrift, Msondezi Lufune, 26, said his Community Work Programme co-worker, Mandisi Nkosane, who was in his 40s, was found exposed to the cold front near his village of Ngxondorheni yesterday.

“He was still breathing, but he was frozen. People used warm water on his limbs but he passed away. He lay there for about five hours. He was in his work overalls. He was coming from a shebeen.

“His body is still there. The police are there. It is raining too much,” said Lufune at 11am yesterday.

He said a mentally disabled villager, whom he knew by name, had also been found dead in the cold near the village.

Police spokesperson Siphokazi Mawisa confirmed that three villagers died in the Middledrift area from exposure to the cold.

Inquest dockets were opened because foul play was not suspected.

Eastern Cape SA Weather Services spokesman Garth Sampson warned people to avoid low-lying areas, especially flooded drifts and bridges.

He said 84mm of rain fell on East London from Sunday to Monday at 2pm. Temperatures dropped to 11.7°C, excluding wind chill factor.

Light rain was expected this morning.

An Mdantsane man, who is mentally disabled, was found sleeping in a rain-soaked lounge after the roof blew off.

Ntombentsha Peter said she and her family of five woke up early in the morning and saw the roof was missing from another family home next door. They found her brother soaked and asleep there. The kitchen and lounge had gaping holes, and water had flooded the place. Bedding, a couch and a display cabinet were sodden.

Peter said: “We appeal to anyone to help us with repairs to our home.”

The family was unemployed and existed on on social grants.

Owen Becker of Buffalo City Metro’s disaster management centre said they had received no calls at the unit.

The rains across the province yesterday fell as South Africa’s northern areas face worsening drought.

The Eastern Cape had the richest reserves of water, said water and sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

Gauteng also has water shortages, but the Minister said KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State provinces were worst hit.

“It is only the Eastern Cape where we don’t have concerns,” she said.

In September, a weather warning was issued by the world meteorological association stating that climate models were showing that ocean warming in the Pacific would create one of the strongest El Ninõ effects ever.

This was likely to cause extreme heat and bring drought to parts of South Africa this summer.

The effect on the Eastern Cape would be to push up temperatures and keep rain away from the province, according to a seasonal climate watch advisory released by the the SA Weather Office in Port Elizabeth in September.

East London Museum scientist Kevin Cole has suggested that the local effects of the Indian Ocean could slow down El Ninõ.

The SA Weather Office advisory stated there would be good, even above normal, rain in spring, followed by “a high chance of extremely dry conditions”.

It also warned of “extreme warmer temperatures over most of SA”.