SEDIBENG.- The Democratic Alliance (DA) has condemned the Gauteng Department of Transport and Logistics alongside Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) for spending over R400 million on a bridge in Emfuleni that “leads to nowhere”.

This, the DA said, is especially as the ELM finds itself in the midst of a full-blown service delivery crisis.

DA’s ELM Mayor elect, Kingsol Chabalala said that the new Flyover Bridge built on the R42, which was intended to link the northern developed area to the R42, as well as the future development of Vaal River City, has cost an exorbitant amount of taxpayers’ money, and that the project has been plagued by delays and remains incomplete, while residents of Emfuleni continue to be deprived of efficient service delivery.

“Service delivery should take precedence over a bridge. It really is as simple as that. The bridge is the least of Emfuleni’s residents’ concerns. The R400 million could have been directed towards addressing inoperable rubbish dumps and raw sewerage flowing through what remains of roads across the municipality.”

What was revealed demonstrated that the building of the bridge was an exercise in futility.

Chabalala further said that the DA submitted questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to demand answers on the intent and purpose of the bridge, as well as the logistics surrounding its construction, and that, what was revealed demonstrated that the building of the bridge was an exercise in futility.

“The failure to plan by the ANC-led municipality has resulted in the construction of a bridge that is effectively a dead end. There were two bridges allegedly built to connect to the flyover, yet both also lead to dead ends.”

 The approximate cost of completing the connecting roads is estimated at R55 million.

“This is dependent on the Vaal River City development, a private developer, securing funding for this portion of the work, with no determined timeframe. The connecting roads never formed part of the original scope of the provincial road project and are situated on private land. The entirety of the bridge and it’s construction displays nothing short of an absence of strategic foresight on behalf of the ANC-led administration.”