Concerns over safety of bridge

According to one of the residents, Mr Moshe Phajane, they were overjoyed when government officials announced they would rebuild the bridge in February. It is the main route over the Loopspruit for residents of Kokosi and one of only two such bridges in the township. A part of the side structure washed away when storm water flowed over the bridge during the worst flooding in decades on 18 February.
A contractor has been working on the bridge and in the street for the past three months.
“We thought everything was going to be fine until last week when the contractor said his scope of work only dealt with the pedestrian bridge and not fixing the bridge itself. The flood damaged this bridge, and we are worried it is not safe anymore. It is also very old. I am now 38 years old, and this bridge has been here since I can remember,” laments Phajane.
He added that disaster management officials had said after the flood that the whole bridge had to be demolished and rebuilt.
“Many people, including children, use this bridge. If it stays like this, it could be disastrous,” says another concerned resident, Ms Lydia Kgakatse.
The Herald took the concerns to the Merafong City Local Municipality on Tuesday but did not receive a response by printing time. During our visit, sewage flowed into the Loopspruit from two blue pipes under the bridge.
Merafong did not shed light on this pollution or when the municipality would stop it.