Cape Town - Political leaders have been flocking to the homes of the four boys who died after falling into a sinkhole at an N2 bridge near Nyanga on Monday, with some residents asking if they were trying to score political points.
A resident, Nonceba Rose, said the community has been living in a dire situation for many years, with children having no playgrounds, and people living in the informal settlement in the underdeveloped community. She questioned if the political leaders were only waiting for the incident to happen for them to visit the area.
However, Nyanga community leader, Nomampondomise Mkhafu said she did not see any political scoring from the leaders. “They all seem sympathetic to the families, and were all promising to help.”
The bodies of Ivakele Kalikopu, 13, Nqabayethu Mlaza, 12, Axolile Mabangula,11 and Azola Quweni, 13, were recovered by emergency crews on Monday night and in the early hours of Tuesday, after they fell into the hole under the bridge along the N2 highway at the Borcherds Quarry turn-off, close to Nyanga.
Transport and Public Works MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela and Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo, who is also the head for the constituency that borders the N2 and Borcherds Quarry Road, visited the families yesterday.
Madikizela said the purpose of their visit was to extend sincere personal condolences to the families, as they also inspected the site where the tragic incident occurred.
He said the department of transport and public works and its contractors inspect all provincial road infrastructure several times a week and repair and replace, as required to ensure safety for road users.
However, he said the structural integrity of infrastructure such as the Borcherds Quarry bridge on the N2 has not been compromised.
“As previously reported, it is our understanding that over the previous weekend, criminals had dug out large amounts of sand from the embankment of the road and this resulted in the material above collapsing while the children were playing there, unaware of this danger.”
Madikizela has called on the police and other law enforcement agencies to increase policing in the area to prevent other incidents from happening.
Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister and the Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, also visited the families on Wednesday evening.
Sisulu said what happened was tragic and was a social problem which they must attend to as a matter of urgency. “As the department we will have to find a site where people will build houses for themselves and those who cannot. We will be there to assist.”
“We need to work together to ensure that we provide a permanent solution on housing issues in the Western Cape. We fought for our people to have a better life and that is what we have strived for and still committed to do,” said Sisulu.
Zulu said they needed to focus on what happened and find a lasting solution. She said as parents, they should not allow their children to play far away from them. “Let us look after our children,” said Zulu.
Mayor Dan Plato, who also visited the scene on Tuesday, and visited the families on Wednesday, offered to lend a helping hand to the families.
EFF provincial chairperson, Melikhaya Xego, said the lives of those children could have been spared if the City had fixed that sand dune hole when they were alerted to the danger it was posing to children by a concerned resident of the province, as early as October 15, 2019.
Cape Argus