The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has finally appointed a contractor to repair the N2 Umhlali River bridge, just shy of a year after it was damaged during the April 2022 floods in KZN.

Technical meetings are already taking place and repairs are expected to take at least four months.

The site was officially handed over to DT Mlangeni Projects on yesterday, with work expected to begin within the next two weeks.

Salt Rock Ward Councillor Privi Makhan will sit on the project liaison committee.

“I will be able to share credible feedback on the project scope and timelines,” says Makhan, who intends to keep a close watch on the repairs.

While the bridge undergoes repairs, KwaDukuza Mayor Lindile Nhaca remains adamant that toll fees should not be reinstated at Mvoti Toll Plaza.

The mayor wrote to Sanral earlier this month citing fears that the move was premature and would compromise the integrity of alternative routes, on which repair work was still to be completed by the Department of Transport.

Sanral’s regional manager for the eastern region, Dumisani Nkabinde, on Monday said he would invite the mayor to a strategic stakeholder engagement session aimed at discussing a range of issues, including the resumption of toll fees at Mvoti.

Toll fees were expected to be reintroduced at Mvoti and oThongathi toll plazas today, with the exception of tolls on northern ramps of the N2 at oThongathi.

However, in a statement on this morning Sanral informed that pending further consultations with government at national and local levels, toll fee resumption would be postponed until further notice.

Also read: Sanral postpones toll fees resumption in KZN amid outcry