Hazyview to Kruger Gate road closed third day in a row due to protests
The protest first started early on Tuesday morning (October 5) at Belfast Village.
Protestors have blockaded the Hazyview to Kruger Gate road for a third day now, following demands by the local community for a tarred road in the area.
Several residents of Belfast Village took to blocking the road with heaps of sand early on Tuesday morning, with the blockades still ongoing on Thursday afternoon.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Donald Mdhluli, said police are on the ground trying to monitor the situation, however, protestors seem to be operating in stealth.
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“The police are not seeing any protestors on the road, but as soon as police shift to another area to monitor, the protestors come out and dump sand on the road before going back into hiding.”
It is unclear when the matter will be resolved. Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport spokesperson, Bongani Dhlamini, said the road in question is a provincial one, the D4382.
“It is just under 13km long and is a major economic route (including tourism, local commuter, and commercial vehicles) in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in particular,” said Dhlamini.
“The department has earmarked the road for upgrading from gravel to a surfaced road for a number of years, but could not proceed because of limited funding.”
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He said the road has been maintained through periodic selective re-graveling and annual routine maintenance such as grading, vegetation clearance and drain cleaning.
“The road has been designed for upgrading to a surfaced road. Procurement for construction has been planned for the current financial year of which advertising of the tender will be this month,” he said.
