SA ‘bitterly cold’

Cape Town – The country is in the icy grip of winter, with the South African Weather Office issuing several warnings to provinces on Sunday.

In the Western Cape, residents were warned to expect very cold conditions over the north-western parts of the province as well as heavy swells of over 4m between Plettenberg Bay and Port Alfred.

KwaZulu-Natal would be very cold, especially in the western parts of the province and in the Eastern Cape residents were told to expect very cold conditions, especially over the north-western high ground.

Heavy thunderstorms were forecast for Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

The coldest towns on Sunday were expected to be Jacobsdal with minimum temperatures of -4°C, Carnarvon with -3°C and Dordrecht with -3°C.

In Cape Town the mercury would not rise higher than 14°C while Johannesburg would see a minimum of 6°C and maximum of 16°C.

On Friday the weather office warned that the country was in for a cold weekend and predicted snow for many parts of SA.

Sithole under 24-hour armed guard

eThekwinis powerful city boss Sibusiso Sithole has been placed under 24-hour armed guard over fears for his safety.

eThekwini’s powerful city boss Sibusiso Sithole has been placed under 24-hour armed guard over fears for his safety.

Concerns about his safety rose after he had implemented his radical plan to restructure the city, a move that has led to the departure of some senior officials and fears that many more will follow.

There are also fears some powerful business people may lose their multimillion-rand contracts during a review spearheaded by Sithole.

“I fear for my life after rubbing people up the wrong way,” Sithole said. Although he had not received any direct death threats, he said he has been advised by state security agencies to beef up security around him, as his life could be in danger.

Sithole told the Tribune that this all stemmed from the Manase Report, which implicated a number of high-ranking officials and politicians in graft allegations. People both inside and outside city hall fear they might face fraud and corruption investigations led by Sithole.