Authorities have warned motorists to stay off one of the country’s arterial routes in the east. The N3 highway between Johannesburg and Durban has been blanketed with heavy snow.

To their surprise, numerous South African motorists found themselves trapped in their vehicles for over 14 hours amidst the chilling conditions in a rare snowstorm on the country’s notorious N3 highway.

Some areas had seen up to two metres of snowfall, the Arrive Alive road safety campaign said in a post on X. South Africa’s Border Management Authority said it had closed three border posts with the kingdom of Lesotho as “the current conditions pose a significant danger.”

Motorist Muhammad Goolam told the Newzroom Afrika channel that he had spent the night in his car with his children outside the town of Harrismith, around 270 kilometres (170 miles) southeast of Johannesburg. "Over 13 hours, food supplies out, I don't see us managing to drive out of here without any assistant from emergency personnel," he said.

N3 traffic update The South African National Defence Force has been deployed to help. Motorists have been urged to cancel their trips until conditions improve. KZN Cooperative Governance MEC, Thulasizwe Buthelezi discussed the interventions with eNCA.