Flood-damaged roads in Mpumalanga remain closed
The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism requested the provincial government to intervene, seeing as the road closure has had a negative impact on tourism.

It has been more than six months since the Lowveld floods left various roads inaccessible.
The spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Lindiwe Msibi, said the province is still waiting for the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) to inform them if it has any funds available to assist in rebuilding some of the damaged infrastructure, especially the roads that are still closed.
Initially, the province requested R2.3b to repair all provincial road damages. However, municipalities only received a portion of the requested money to date to deal with internal roads, bridges and other damaged infrastructure. The NDMC recently convened a meeting with the provincial disaster management centres and Cogta to discuss progress, rehabilitation interventions and challenges encountered.
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The NDMC has once again asked the department to make formal applications for funding. The applications have since been submitted, but the province is still awaiting feedback.
The NDMC’s spokesperson, Legadima Leso, confirmed to Lowvelder that the funding request from Mpumalanga had been received. He also again confirmed verification of all documentation, but the situation is still the same, that due to a limited budget for the 2023/24 financial year, the NDMC is trying to secure other forms of funding for road repair. “We are still waiting for the NDMC to respond to us if it will give us the grants to repair the roads. As a province, we did our part by ensuring all submissions were done on time,” said Msibi.
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Meanwhile the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism’s COO, Linda Grimbeek, had requested the provincial government to intervene so that roads can be repaired. “The R536 between Sabie and Hazyview is inconveniencing tourists, residents and people living in the area when travelling to the Kruger National Park or Hazyview as those routes have been closed for a long time. It’s been more than six months since the roads were closed and tourism businesses are losing money, because people don’t want to travel long and unnecessary distances. The R40 between Barberton and the Josefsdal Border Post is adversely affecting visitors to the province and needs to be attended to,” she said.
Until the situation changes, the R536 between Hazyview and Sabie, as well as the R40 between Barberton and the Josefsdal Border Post on the Barberton Makhonjwa Geotrail, will remain closed. The R40 next to Klipkopjes Dam will continue to operate on a stop-and-go basis.