Disaster declared in snow covered Eastern Cape

The South African government has declared a disaster in five magisterial districts of the Eastern Cape after four people died and at least 100,000 were affected by heavy snowfalls. "It is hard to believe that a scene so beautiful can lead to such devastation," Louis Buys, chief director of disaster management in the Department of Provincial and Local Government, told IRIN on his return from the area. The Department of Public Works pinpointed the districts of Cala, Ugie, Elliot, Indwe and Barkly East as needing emergency assistance after heavy snow and rains had pelted the area since last week. Buses were stranded on mountain passes, telecommunications and power was cut off, and the army had to be called in to help ferry food and rescue people. Provincial police disaster management coordinator, Captain John Fobian, told IRIN that over 3,000 informal dwellings were destroyed, leaving already poverty stricken people homeless and sheltering in local town halls. Over 50 businesses, 102 farmhouses and several schools were also destroyed by the snow storms. Fobian said that up to 1,000 farmworkers at remote farming posts were cut off from their regular delivery of supplies. Since pictures of the snow were flashed around the usually sunny country, the South African public, churches and businesses, had donated food, blankets and stoves for the affected people. Buys said: "We can safely say that the human needs of food and shelter have been adequately met by the resources deployed. "However, there is a very serious animal fodder crisis with over 125,000 hectares of land under one metre or more of snow. There is no way those animals are going to get food in the next three to four weeks." He said large scale and communal farmers urgently needed at least 50,000 mt of fodder or their animals would die. Further north in the picturesque Sani Pass area, a group of snowed in tourists had to be rescued by helicopter. In the nearby province of KwaZulu-Natal, six nurses and a driver died last week after their car was swept off a bridge during surprise torrential rains. The South African weather service said the worst of the current bad weather was over. However, forecaster Evert Scholtz warned of overflowing rivers caused by the melting snow. Parts of Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe have been hit by thunderstorms as part of the same weather pattern, but Scholtz said the impact had not been too serious. Snow also fell in the mountainous country of Lesotho. The news agency AFP reported that heavy snow in the Maluti mountain range in the east of the country had blocked roads. The World Food Programme (WFP) would know by Friday whether the snow would affect planned food deliveries to needy people in the country. However, the Lesotho Red Cross, which would help the WFP deliver to those areas, had made arrangements to hire donkeys and horses to ensure deliveries to people who had already exhausted all their coping mechanisms and would not have money for food or fuel.