VEREENIGING. -It appears that the repairs recently conducted on the Boy Louw Road undercarriage between Vereeniging and Sharpeville were temporary, as it has begun to flood due to heavy rains.

To the delight of motorists, the Boy Louw Road was recently reopened following a 7-month closure due to construction work. The area under the bridge on Boy Louw Road has been problematic for years, annoying motorists. Water from the pipes and/or valves under the bridge led to the road flooding. Before its closure for maintenance late last year, the road under the bridge had become impassable for almost a month.

Makhosonke Sangweni, the spokesperson for the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), commented on the current situation: “We are currently procuring a permanent generator that will be installed there. What you see only occurs during load shedding. Cable and electrical faults lead to water pump failures, hence we have this situation. We need to replace the 11KVA cable fault immediately and acquire a permanent generator for the future, which is a decision that is underway.”

Isaac Khithika, Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Sedibeng, stated that the EFF strongly condemns the work done at Boy Louw Bridge and calls for appropriate consequence management to be implemented. He further mentioned that the work done on the Boy Louw undercarriage is unsatisfactory, as water still accumulates during rainfall, obstructing motorists.

“We understand that sealing these roads costs taxpayers millions of rands. It is therefore essential that taxpayers be refunded for the work done at Boy Louw, as the quality of work there amounts to theft. It is only a matter of time before cars cannot pass through completely. We also assert that the engineers and contractors who worked on that road did not perform adequately; perhaps they were understaffed, given the excessive presence of cameras, journalists, and politicians during the construction of the road. We believe this may be the primary cause of the road’s collapse during rainy weather.”