Durban — Although a few commended the eThekwini Municipality for moving swiftly in removing a pedestrian bridge that was damaged along the Southern Freeway, many brought up issues of service delivery plaguing residents.
On Saturday morning, the eThekwini Municipality announced that the Southern Freeway was now open after a damaged pedestrian bridge near Himalaya Drive was successfully removed overnight.
The pedestrian bridge was struck and severely damaged.
“Kudos to the team that worked through the night to ensure minimal disruption to traffic and to remove this bridge which was posing a risk to life and property after it was damaged on Thursday night,” the municipality said.
The public had been informed on Friday of the emergency closure of the freeway.
Then, the municipality said the bridge was a risk to life and property, hence the emergency operation.
Reacting to the closure of the road and swift response by the municipality, Facebook users had this to say:
Sithandiwe MaDuma Mthombeni said: “When are the 3 potholes towards the Clairwood exit on the M4 Highway going to be fixed? You acknowledged this two weeks ago, but to date, there is no feedback and THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FIXED!!!! When are the lanes on the M4 going to be repainted? Why are you continuing to ignore this? How many MORE people have to DIE on the M4 southern freeway CBD, Old Airport to Amanzimtoti before you do what is right? Why are you playing Russian roulette with our lives?
Thiru Pillay said that Spencer Road in Clare Estate has a solid white line from the Morewood Road corner to the bottom of the road. The result is that accidents occur but the road is not marked correctly. “Why is there no oversight before contractors are paid?”
Gregory Whitby said: “When are the lines going to be repainted? Most Durban roads are a nightmare for drivers.”
Laila Gilden said the whole Southern Freeway should be repaired.
Sinothile Zwane said: “Can we have electricity in Hambanathi, please? What have we done to the eThekwini Municipality to suffer like this? No water from April, no water tankers supplied as promised and each time it rains we have power issues. This is serious torture l wish to get a clear answer from the office of the mayor one day maybe l will understand this nonsense then!”
Siyabonga N Cele asked about the water supply in ward 38. He said it had been without water for eight months and it remained the only area without water.
Xolisile KaPhangandawo Shange said: “Ntuzuma E we still have sewage flooding our yard due to stormwater and sewage pipes that were washed away during the first occurrence of floods on April 11. To date, the municipality has not done anything.”
Daily News