Will the Mpumalanga High Court building be ready by June?
The court's entrance and exit roads have not yet been approved.
MBOMBELA – The Mpumalanga High Court might be completed by June.
However, with D-day fast approaching, the Mbombela Local Municipality, the Ehlanzeni FET College and the Department of Justice are still at odds about where the entrance to the impressive structure should be located.
Department of Justice spokesman, Adv Mthunzi Mhaga, did not reply to media queries but an informed source said stakeholders were trying to resolve the pressing matter. “We’ll have to find a solution. The most important issue here is that people have to get in and out of the court,” he said.
In October 2013, Lowvelder reported that the entrance was going to be on the N4 (Samora Machel Drive). The route from Kaapsehoop Road through the Ehlanzeni FET College’s grounds to the court building was also mooted and the widening of Kaapsehoop Road was approved last year. The local municipality approved a R13 million budget for the purpose, but the college opposed the idea.
Last week Mr Steve Schormann, DA representative on the Ehlanzeni council, took part in a public discussion on Facebook’s Nelspruiter’s group. He said no access road to the court had been approved to date and construction on Samora Machel Drive and the Old Pretoria Road had not started. “I would say you are looking at the first quarter of 2017 (for the court’s opening),” he said.
Municipal spokesman Mr Joseph Ngala said there would be access routes to and from the High Court, no matter what. To ensure this, the department has suggested that intersections on Samora Machel Drive be upgraded to accommodate commuters using the court.
Ngala said the municipality had requested a traffic study to determine access needs and the possibility of upgrading intersections to accommodate increased traffic. Discussions are ongoing with all stakeholders in government, including the departments of higher education and public works, as well as the municipality. Ngala said he would update the media as soon as a decision was taken.
