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.

This was the reality yesterday and on Friday when people on the roads of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands found themselves in an icy winter wonderland, transformed by heavy snowfall. Mother Nature’s wrath unleashed chaos on roads such as the N3, the R74, the R617 and several back routes, where trucks, buses and cars were stuck for hours.

South Africa’s N3 highway remains closed to incoming traffic between KwaZulu-Natal and Harrismith in the Free State as recovery teams work to clear vehicles trapped by snow and ice at Van Reenen’s Pass.

Unusually heavy snowfall caused major disruption on South Africa’s roads Saturday with people still stranded at midday after spending the night stuck in their vehicles.The key N3 highway linking Johannesburg and the east coast city of Durban was one of the worst affected and several portions were closed,