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.

Roads were closed and motorists were left stranded in their vehicles and unable to move due to the thick snow on Friday evening.

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.”

Roads were closed and motorists were stranded on Saturday following unusually heavy snowfall in South Africa. The N3 highway connecting Johannesburg and Durban was particularly affected, with

Heavy snowfall caused disruption on South Africa’s roads on Saturday with motorists stranded after spending the night in their vehicles.

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.

An unusual snow and ice storm forced the closing of South Africa’s N3 highway at Van Reenen’s Pass, which connects Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, the nation’s two most populous provinces.

Radio personality Penny Ntuli and other motorists have been left stranded in snow in various parts of the country, including on the