Flash flood washes away road through Thomas Bain’s iconic Swartberg Pass

12 April 2017 - 14:23 By Aron Hyman
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Flash flood washes away road through Thomas Bain’s iconic Swartberg Pass.
Flash flood washes away road through Thomas Bain’s iconic Swartberg Pass.
Image: Facebok/Renier van Nieuwenhuizen

One of South Africa’s iconic routes – over the Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert – has been shut down by a flash flood.

Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa said on Wednesday it would take a "very long time" to repair the gravel road passing between towering cliffs at the Prince Albert end of the pass.

It was washed away on Sunday after a storm which also trapped a bus in nearby Meiringspoort between De Rust and Beaufort West.

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The closure of the pass coincides with the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) in Oudsthoorn‚ one of the country's biggest cultural festivals.

"The problem is that people who want to go to Oudtshoorn now have to take an alternative route‚" Africa said.

Africa said Die Hel‚ an isolated settlement and tourist attraction in the Swartberg mountains which uses the pass as its only access route‚ could still be reached from the Oudtshoorn side. Pictures posted on Facebook showed the pass resembling a mountain stream more than a road.

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According to the website Mountain Passes of SA: "The Swartberg Pass is for many South Africans the rubicon of gravel road passes. There is an allure and a mystique around this old pass‚ coupled with its status as a national monument‚ which elevates this pass to the very top of the list. It was Thomas Bain's final and best piece of road building."

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