Brave beachgoers were sandblasted on Camps Bay Beach as the Cape Doctor blew in full force recently. Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
South Africans have always joked that we live in multiple countries at once — at least when it comes to the weather.
One province is melting in the heat, another is underwater and, somewhere, a tornado is plotting its next move.
And Cape Town? Well, Cape Town is just being extra, as usual.
Cape Town loves to keep you on your toes.
Four season in one day
The morning starts with beach weather, by lunch, the wind has launched your hat into the ocean, and by the time you head home, it’s raining like a scene from a “Twilight“ movie.
Locals have mastered the art of layering, while tourists walk around in flip-flops, visibly confused.
Let’s not forget about the wind — Cape Town’s unofficial mayor. The south-easter, also known as the "Cape Doctor", doesn’t just blow; it bullies. It flips umbrellas, sends beachgoers running, and has been known to lift you from your feet if you’re walking (okay, maybe not, but it feels that way).
You haven’t truly experienced Cape Town until you’ve watched a tourist chase their hat down the promenade.
This was the wind in Cape Town yesterday!
— Cassiday Rangata-Jacobs (@CRangataJ) January 28, 2025
I am beyond amused. 😂 pic.twitter.com/mUWbtB6Mac
No wonder Cape Town keeps flirting with the idea of becoming its own country. If you live in a place where it’s possible to get sunburnt and catch the flu on the same day, wouldn’t you feel a little special too?
A different timezone?
And then there is the time zones.
All South Africa is on the same time zone, which is 30 degrees East, so there is never a time difference. But of course, Cape Town is geographically about 1500km more west than Johannesburg, so the sun rises about 30 minutes later and sets a bit - well actually - way later.
One Reddit user’s question as to why there are not different time zones came back with answers related to the administrative nightmare it would be to put the Western and Northern Cape on a different time zone - even though these two provinces are.
KZN hard hit this week
Meanwhile, KZN’s recent floods have been brutal this week, claiming lives and displacing residents, with roads turning into rivers and people wading through knee-deep water like it’s a casual summer activity.
The province was hit with heavy rainfall earlier this week, with up to 100mm falling in some areas.
In Adams Mission, a landslide tragically claimed three lives after two structures collapsed, bringing the total death toll to at least six.
Over in Isipingo, businesses have taken a knock, with flash floods causing major water damage overnight. Disaster management teams are in full swing, evacuating high-risk areas and setting up shelters for those displaced.
South of DBN
— Gagasi FM Traffic (@GFMTraffic) February 20, 2025
⚠️Isiphingo...Flooding in the Isiphingo CBD. #GFMTraffic #KZNTraffic pic.twitter.com/OlYFnBpUdA
Joburgers, over the past few days, have been treated to plenty of rain and cloudy skies.
Jozi weather
Joburg is a master of indecision, this Joburg, when it comes to weather (written only like a true Capetonian - who knows her city has four seasons in a day - could write about her sister/cousin Joburg). One moment, in Jozi you're basking in summer sunshine, the next, you're caught in a lunchtime thunderstorm, and by dinner, you’re dodging hailstones the size of golf balls.
The weather shifts quicker than the latest soapie plot twist. In true Jo’burg style, it’s best to be ready for every season in just one day. So, keep that umbrella close, but don’t be shocked if you suddenly need sunglasses and a light jacket as the day unfolds.
Back to Cape Town’s secessionist tendencies
In recent years, movements like the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) have been gaining traction, advocating for the Western Cape to break away and form its own nation.
Cape independence? Maybe not
Founded in 2020, the CIAG aims to coordinate efforts towards Cape independence, citing cultural and political differences as key reasons for secession.
Another player in this arena is CapeXit, a non-political movement striving for independence for all people of the Western Cape, regardless of race, religion, or political views. They’ve been actively gathering support, with over 800,000 signed mandates from registered Western Cape voters as of May 2021.
But most South Africans want to, of course, be one big happy family, even if some have agreed to head off to the United States with its own extreme weather patterns and growing effects of climate change (even if US President Donald Trump is bringing back plastic straws).
In any event, whether (weather) Cape Town will ever don its own national flag remains to be seen. For now, it continues to revel in its unique weather patterns and time zones, all while teasing the rest of South Africa with the notion of going solo.