No money to fix roads and bridges

LEPHALALE – The temporary bridge between Vaalwater and Lephalale is not going to be fixed soon. This is according to Mayor Jack Maeko speaking at the National Council of Provinces meeting earlier this week.

Maeko said the municipality is aware that the road can no longer cope with the traffic load. “We have the same problem with the road between Lephalale and Mokopane that uses two single bridges,” Maeko said.
“Roads Agency of Limpopo (RAL) and Exxaro are upgrading three district roads for us, but there are insufficient funds to fix all the roads around our area.”
The road between Vaalwater and Lephalale is notorious for the amount of accidents that occur at the temporary bridge. Charles Lekalakala, a truck driver who travels between Gauteng and Lephalale on a weekly basis, says that he has seen three accidents where vehicles drove into the ditch next to the temporary bridge.
“I don’t know how the drivers can still have accidents while there are so many road markings indicating that there is road works in progress.
“I have even seen some trucks get stuck on the bridge because they are too big to pass through the structure,” Lekalakala says.
The temporary bridge was built by Exxaro, Eskom and local farmers last year after the road was destroyed during floods.
According to Dries Basson, the DA councilor for Waterberg district, the area was declared a disaster area and the road should have been repaired out of the disaster management fund.