For the first 30 minutes, motorists stranded in the heavy snow would have thought it was temporary, and that they would continue with their journeys in no time.
But as minutes became hours and darkness crept in, one can only imagine their fear inside their freezing cars, buses, taxis and trucks.
Videos shared on social media showed the snow trapped calling out to their “neighbours” in the morning on Saturday to establish if they were still alive, especially those whose car lights were no longer flashing.
Others opened their windows and waved or greeted back, while there was dead silence in some of the vehicles enveloped in snow.
It was almost like watching a movie scene on the sinking of the Titanic, or a Mount Everest expedition in freezing temperatures.
By the time help arrived and they were rescued or able to drive to safety, they had spent two nights in the cold, some without food, water or anything to keep them warm.
Others could no longer communicate with their loved ones because their cellphones’ battery power had run out.
By Sunday, it emerged that at least one person had died from hypothermia on the N3. It is by the grace of God that the death toll was not higher.
Where was help? Why did government not act sooner? Were disaster-relief teams not on standby on the N3 and other hot spots in Mpumalanga, Free State and Eastern Cape, especially since the weatherman had warned of the snowfall?
And a road such as the N3 with its history of being closed due to snowfalls could also have been closed on Friday before the disaster unfolded.
Something could have been done to assist the victims sooner.
Government claims the situation was so severe that even helicopters couldn’t take off for emergency teams to provide help to those stranded.
Sorry, but the explanation simply doesn’t hold water.
In a country like South Africa with more resources than some countries on the continent, you would think there were other ways to reach those stranded on the roads than just the helicopters.
Until our government becomes proactive and stops being reactive, the lives of our compatriots will continue to be at risk in disaster situations.
Cape Times