PUPILS and workers in Nhlazatshe near Badplaas in Mpumalanga were yesterday unable to go to school and work because of a flooded bridge.

The Mkhomazane River started swelling on Saturday after heavy rainfall that continued until yesterday. The flooding caused the bridge to become impassable.

Most of the stranded pupils who had to return home yesterday attend Dlomodlomo and Bantwabethu high schools.

LaMgidi Khumalo, a pensioner who lives in the area, said yesterday: "My granddaughter was one of the pupils who had to return home because of the flood.

"The government should do something about that bridge. It is very low, and every time it rains we suffer. We experience the same problem on pension days."

Also caught off-guard on Saturday were ANC supporters who were returning from the party's 98th anniversary celebrations .

Hector Shilane and Sam Moropane from Bushbuckridge and Thulamahashe, respectively, were some of the supporters who could not cross the river.

Moropane said : " We were returning from Volkrust where Deputy President Kgalema Mo tl anthe was addressing us when we realised that it would impossible to cross the bridge. "

The rain has caused havoc in most areas of the Mpumalanga Lowveld.