Some Diepsloot residents contacted Fourways Review requesting clarity over the two-year-old structures.
“What is this and where is it going to?” asked one resident in a letter to the publication. The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed the structures were guarded on a 24-hour basis.
Another resident who also declined to be identified said he wondered where the bridges were leading to since the other side of the road was veld.
Johannesburg Roads Agency spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers said the open veld is scheduled for development into a residential area to be known as Tanganani Ext 14. She added that the development was still in the planning phase.
“It is said that some people will be relocated from Diepsloot to the proposed Tanganani development,” she said.
“The aim of the bridges is to create a link between the two townships.”
Project director of Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, Shingai Mpinyuri divulged that the twin bridges were built at a cost of R54 million. Mpinyuri said the development of Tanganani Ext 14 would proceed at the end of this year and that William Nicol Drive, which passes through Diepsloot, would be developed into an eight-lane road. He said the bridges were being guarded because they were still under construction.
DA public relations councillor for Diepsloot, Refilwe Mathebula said residents were not properly informed about the intended development.
“People were not told, so that is why they don’t know anything,” said Mathebula.
She claimed that nothing had been budgeted for the development of Tanganani Ext 14 in the 2015/2016 City Council budget.
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