While we understand that safety comes first, the chaotic mismanagement of the planned (?) repairs to the Mzimkhulu bridge is raising more questions than answers. For a long time, members of the public have been raising concerns about the stability of the bridge, and there has been no public response by officials.
Suddenly, last week, the closure was announced.
With no clear communication as to how this would be managed, communities were anxious and confused.
The ‘alternate’ route, especially Sugar Mill Road/Oscar Borchers, has been a disaster since the floods of 2022, with landslides and the road literally slipping into the Mzimkhulu – it appeared that ‘no one’ cared, and now – it’s critical!
Why was there never a limit placed on the weight that the bridge would tolerate? Authorities were aware that its integrity was compromised, and yet heavy mining trucks have been allowed to use it with impunity.
Abnormal loads travelling through Marburg, along Marine Drive and over Mzimkhulu bridge between 08:00 and 09:00 on February 28 were observed by many, holding up the traffic for kilometres.
In the early hours of Sunday, March 2, residents travelling from Margate to Pumula were behind an abnormal load described as a large cab/horse with three trailers bearing heavy machinery that turned off at Umzumbe Lithium Mine. These should have gone off at N2 toll offramp and taken Umtentweni toll offramp via Rethman Drive or come off at Hibberdene, which would have avoided the heavy load on the Mzimkhulu bridge.
There are other similar incidents recorded and reported.
Buckling again under yet another crisis on the South Coast, how resilient do we have to be? We’ve had Covid-19, floods, riots and local municipality strikes. Our people are tired. Why were the tolls not zero-rated before this was forced upon us – it’s the least a caring government could have done.
PS: the Umzumbe bridge needs to be inspected as there are many 32 ton trucks using it daily, chunks of cement from the railway bridge have fallen into the river mouth, and the R102 bridge looks like it could do with some maintenance.
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