Last Glacial Maximum
It is estimated that annual average temperatures in Southern Africa were 6 °C lower than at present during the Last Glacial Maximum. This alone would however not have been enough to create a widespread glaciation or permafrost in the Drakensberg Mountains or the Lesotho Highlands. Seasonal freezing of the ground in the Lesotho Highlands might have reached depths of 2 meter or more below the surface. A few small glaciers did however develop during the Last Glacial Maximum, in particular in south-facing slopes. In the Hex River Mountains, in the Western Cape, block streams and terraces found near the summit of Matroosberg evidences past periglacial activity which likely occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum.