I've never experienced what a South African winter is like but it seems like it has a really weird and uncanny effect on the environment @gavvet
The only insight I have had of South Africa are from @kiligirl's great posts but her garden nor the near surroundings don't seem to have taken this much of a detrimental toll compared to what you have witnessed.
The effect of climate change is absolutely devastating and I hope one day we can revert our destruction and be able to terraform this planet while we search to somehow terraform planets like Mars.