I can’t see the word ‘sandstorm’ without thinking of the Darude song, which has quite a backstory.

That has absolutely nothing to do with the video below, filmed in the Overberg town of Villiersdorp, but I felt it worthy of a mention.

The video was taken by Villiersdorp businessman Khell van der Lith, who heard about a taxi and some motorists caught in a sandstorm at a bridge near Vyeboom on Sunday.

According to News24, he headed into the storm to offer assistance:

“That’s me in the yellow jacket,” Van der Lith laughed, referring to the person in the video.

Having worked in the towing industry for 12 years, he already had his trusty tow ropes in the back of his bakkie when he set off to help.

“My bakkie was thrown all over the road,” he says of the journey there.

Once there, he towed five vehicles out of the sand while traffic officials, other volunteers and the police assisted and kept the road safe by warning oncoming motorists.

“I felt like the sand was going to take off my skin,” Van der Lith said…

Van der Lith said the nearby Theewaterskloof Dam has not recovered from the prolonged drought, so sand is constantly blown onto the road.

Theewaterskloof is in a better state than back in the Day Zero panic, but there’s a long way to go.

Let’s see that footage:

Pretty hectic.

Luckily, van der Lith kept a sense of humour about the whole thing:

After Sunday’s heroism, Van der Lith went back to Villiersdorp to complete his shopping errand.

“I forgot the Omo though, so I had to go back for that,” he laughed.

Priorities, man.

[source:news24]