A cold front is sweeping across most of South Africa, and residents are being advised to stay warm.
At this point, the snowfall hasn’t resulted in any significant inconveniences, a spokesman for the South African Weather Service (Saws) told the BBC.
Through the rest of the week, cold weather is predicted.
On Monday, a lot of people in Johannesburg appeared to be mesmerized by the unusual sight of snow in their city.
Primary school teacher Agnes Mideva explains, “Some of the students and I went out to explore. Some of them had seen snow before, while others thought it was raining.”
Nobukhosi Stompie, a domestic helper, told the BBC that she had never experienced anything like it as she made her way to work through the snow.
Caretaker Billy Nxumalo says, “We’re keeping warm indoors so we’re good. It was incredibly magnificent to see the fields next to our neighborhood covered in snow.
Meteorologists in the country in the southern hemisphere are closely monitoring events as winter officially begins.
Several provinces, including the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and the Gauteng region, which encompasses Johannesburg and Soweto, have experienced snowfall.
Initiation schools in the Eastern Cape have been urged by weather experts to be extra cautious over the coming week as they keep an eye on hundreds of teenage boys who will be having traditional circumcision rites performed on remote mountaintops throughout the province. The Xhosa ethnic group views this ritual as a rite of passage into manhood.
Additionally, it is urged that farmers shelter their livestock during the cold snap.
What part climate change may have had in the unusual snowfall is unclear.
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