The City of Johannesburg has officially opened the Kaalfontein pedestrian bridge last Friday, despite alleged disruptions by some community members wearing SANCO and ANC regalia.
The city’s executive mayor, Herman Mashaba, said the community of Kaalfontein had waited 25 years for service delivery, particularly this pedestrian bridge. It would have likely waited even longer had this multi-party government not intervened to pass the budget, which made the pedestrian bridge possible.
“Our multi-party government recognises the legitimate concerns of residents and, thankfully, the majority of the residents I have met during service-delivery events recognise this and are proud of the work we are doing.
“No amount of politically motivated disruption and heckling from those who wasted public money will stop us,” said Mashaba.
The Kaalfontein pedestrian bridge serves as a link between Extensions 2 and 5 within Ward 92 in Kaalfontein.
“I am very proud of the work that the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has put in to ensure that its various current projects are completed timeously and within budget, despite the many constraints.
“I hope that the community will now look after their new pedestrian bridge,” said Mashaba.
“There was a need to construct this bridge over a river to provide a safe passageway, especially for young children and the elderly walking between the two extensions,” he added.
Construction of the pedestrian bridge, which is 102 metres long and 3.5 metres wide, commenced on May 09, 2018, and was completed on September 30, at a cost of R21-million.
“Before construction of this bridge, schoolchildren were struggling to get to school and residents struggled to get to neighbouring communities, clinics and other amenities due to the existing water stream not being safe for crossing, especially during rainy seasons,” said JRA’s acting managing director Siya Nodu.
The key highlights of this project were the number of jobs created and skills transferred. A total of 34 local EPWP participants and a minimum of four sub-contractors were engaged.
Also follow us on:
