“No bridge, no votes”- Mudimeli residents

When rains falls, it brings relief to many people, but in many rural communities it sometimes comes with devastating consequences.

In Ha-Mudimeli village outside Louis Trichardt, the residents are still living in misery that resulted from the floods of the year 2000 when their bridge was broken. Sixteen years after that disaster, the bridge has not been not repaired. Residents are tired of what they describe as empty promises by the Makhado Municipality and have vowed not to vote in Wednesday's local government elections.

The broken bridge has really become a nightmare for the residents, as it is the entrance to their village.

A resident told this paper that he no longer has hope for the municipality. “We are really suffering. During the rainy season is difficult for us cross the bridge as is not safe,” he said. He further added that the community saw the broken bridge as a scar that would never heal.

Residents said that the councillors had promised them for years that the bridge would be repaired, and it had become a joke to them. “We want a permanent solution about our broken bridge,” said the residents.

In an interview, Chief Radzilani Mudimeli said that he was tired of the empty promises and he did not think that his community would ever see the bridge repaired. “Many councillors have come and gone with their empty promises, but the broken bridge still remains,” he said.

“I was told that the engineers and contractors had already been chosen to repair the bridge. They want us to vote for them, then they forget about us again, because this is what they have been doing for years. I will believe it when the construction begins,” he said.

The PRO of the Makhado Local Municipality, Mr Louis Bobodi, was not available for comment.

Date:29 July 2016

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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