ADVERTISEMENT:

 
 

Vuwani Taxi Association's Mr Phineas Mathobo shows one of the latest letters they wrote to the Thulamela municipality.

Dzwerani residents blockade road

 

Angry residents, taxi and bus operators in Dzwerani outside Thohoyandou have vowed to block all entrances to the village until the Thulamela municipality comes and addresses the issue of damaged roads in the village that are making life difficult for the community.

On Monday, everything came to a standstill, with learners having to go back to their homes as their educators could not reach their schools. Many from the village could not go to work as there was no transport.

The village, which dates back to 1957, is one of the oldest villages in Vhembe, but it has nothing to show for it, even after the dawn of democracy. Passage through the village is almost impossible, to such an extent that one bus operator has withdrawn his service there, leaving scores of residence without cheap transport.

A member of the Vuwani Taxi Association, Mr Phineas Mathobo, said that they had formed several delegations and written letters to the Thulamela municipality, complaining about the bad roads, especially the main road from the Dzondo River, which is full holes and is slippery. “We have done all in the book to get the attention of the authorities, but nothing has come out of that correspondence.”

He added that three years ago, “our gloomy spirits were lifted up when the local councillor announced at a meeting that R25 million had been allocated for the construction of the Dzondo Bridge, which is impassable during rains. To our dismay, we were later told that the money had been used in other projects by the municipality and that only R11 million was left, which could would not be enough.”

He said that it was very painful because all this was being done by the government they had voted for after they had made promises of a better life. Mathobo further indicated that their businesses were falling apart as a result of the bad roads.

He added that Dzwerani was one of the oldest villages, but new settlements that had emerged more recently had tarred roads. “We are left with no other option or solution and we decided that enough is enough.”

Local Dzwerani Hamadala civic chairperson Michael Ndou said the issue of roads had been a burning one for a long time. “Residents have to travel long distances to get transport to work as taxi owners and buses no longer come to the village because of the bad roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, this paper later learnt that a meeting involving different stakeholders was held at the village where it was resolved that they would meet again on 8 February, where all the stakeholders involved will attend.

Thulamela municipality spokesperson Mr Nndwamato Tshiila confirmed that they knew about the challenges facing the Dzwerani community.

"We have been doing something about the bad road, like removing the big rocks that made it difficult for the vehicles to pass through the village. Even though it is in the competence of public works, we are going to sit down with public works and see how we can rescue the situation," he said.

Some of the taxis that blocked the main road leading to Dzwerani from the main road to Vuwani.

Taxi drivers inspect the muddy road leading to the village.

Drivers of the Vuwani Taxi Association try to put stones in the road for their vehicles to pass.

Police and community leaders try to reason how best the community can protest. The police appealed for leaders to open the way for other road users, which was done peacefully. 

 

Date:03 February 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 2447

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT:

ADVERTISEMENT:

 

Recent Articles

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Popular Articles