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eThekwini municipality commends Shallcross residents for rebuilding a flood-ravaged bridge

Nivashni Nair Senior reporter
The Pompene River Bridge team consisting of community activists in the south of Durban took on the job with R50,000 and the sponsored use of R12m worth of construction equipment.
The Pompene River Bridge team consisting of community activists in the south of Durban took on the job with R50,000 and the sponsored use of R12m worth of construction equipment.
Image: supplied

eThekwini municipality has applauded a group of Shallcross residents for rebuilding within five days a bridge washed away in the recent deadly floods in KwaZulu-Natal.

Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela confirmed that the city was aware of the initiative.

“We are aware of the amazing civic pride showed by this community who came together in the wake of the recent flood damage and assisted by reinstating the roadway. The area is known as the Blundell/Shallcross culvert and was damaged when the approaches were washed away.

“Some locals with access to heavy machinery set about clearing the debris and reinstating the approach roadway with road fill material and the use of a front-end loader supplied by the eThekwini municipality’s road maintenance department. Our teams are assessing to ensure that all is in order.”

“Truly, the civic pride shown here encourages us as a city to also continue to work hard to ensure that our city is repaired and services are restored,” he said.

The Pompene River bridge team, consisting of 10 community activists in the south of Durban, took up the task on their own with R50,000 and the sponsored use of R12m worth of construction equipment.

Team spokesperson Marcus Richards told TimesLIVE on Monday residents were forced to use alternative routes to leave or enter the area after the Blundell Bridge over the Pompene River washed away. However, the alternative routes were often closed due to service delivery protests.

“We were basically held hostage as we couldn’t leave or enter when these protests occurred. A group of activists and community members decided to step up. We couldn’t sit around and wait for authorities to do it for us because we didn’t know when they would.

“When a group of people with the same vision get together, they can achieve anything.”

TimesLIVE


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