More than a year after a tragic accident claimed the life of a local resident, the damaged bridge near Wedela remains unfixed and closed to the public.

Anele Mnqayi died on July 11 last year when the bakkie he was travelling in with his cousin, Mpumemelo Gaba, plunged into an unmarked culvert beneath the bridge.

The bridge itself was washed away following heavy flooding back in 2022.

The Merafong City Local Municipality eventually closed the makeshift bridge over the culvert after the fatal incident using heavy concrete slabs, completely blocking access.

However, repairs have still not been carried out.

The ongoing closure is causing major headaches for the local community.

Residents are currently unable to reach the Wedela graveyard to bury their loved ones or visit existing gravesites.

“This is a big problem for Wedela residents as we also cannot visit the graves of our loved ones,” a resident, Lunga Zituta, remarked recently.

Motorists, including emergency services, wishing to travel to Wedela from the direction of Blyvoor or the N12 are forced to take much longer detours past the Mponeng or Kusasalethu mines.

Although the municipality paid a contractor to fix the section of the road, including the bridge, the work was left unfinished with only a portion of the road tarred, leaving the bridge and the surrounding stretch untouched. It remains unclear who the contractor was or whether they were officially tasked with fixing the bridge.

Temba Fezani, the municipality is marketing and communications manager, once again failed to respond to inquiries by printing time.