Locals’ cries finally heard, a week before president’s visit

DWARSLOOP-Residents said they felt undermined by the sudden rehabilitation of the road between Dwarsloop and Thulamahashe.

On Monday they made headlines when they took to the streets threatening to disrupt Zuma’s visit because “government was not
taking them seriously”.

Mpumalanga News listened to them on Thursday when they vented their
frustrations. According to the community members, they had on numerous occasions complained about the state of the road which was riddledwith potholes, but their grievances always fell on deaf ears.

They accused the local municipality of not prioritising their needs, but quickly jumping when they knew that the president was visiting.

“All of a sudden there is an urgent project to fix the road in the the very same week that the president is visiting. What a coincidence!” exclaimed one of the residents, Mr Abel Siwela.

Echoing Siwela’s statement was Ms Zelda Nukeri who added it was worrying that the road had to be fixed in less than a week.

“It won’t be surprised if the road gets damaged quickly again. Where have you seen a major project like this being completed in just five days?” Nukeri asked.

This journalist visited the construction site where labourers were working around the clock to have the project finished by Friday, preceding Zuma’s visit.

One of the workers acknowledged that although they had to work fast, he was confident that the short space of time would not affect the quality of work.

However, Bushbuckridge mayor, Cllr Renias Khumalo denied claims that the road was being repaired because Zuma was scheduled to use it.

He added that the planning had been in place long before his visit as it was part of the provincial government’s maintenance plan. Zuma and 18 cabinet ministers visited the Bushbuckridge area on Friday following calls by the community for government to intervene and address service-delivery issues.