A multi-million rand bridge in Ha-Lambani village shows cracks

Residents of Ha-Lambani village, outside Thohoyandou, Limpopo, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the R17 million bridge built by the Thulamela municipality.

The bridge, which was constructed about two years ago, has developed cracks. Since then, the contractor has returned to the site to make repairs.

Ha-Lambani village residents have been unhappy about the state of a bridge in the area. Pictures of a cracked bridge and bumpy surface were widely circulated with various people expressing their dissatisfaction.

This led the municipality to stall the event to officially hand over the project to the residents. Now repairs are under way.

Motorists continue to use the bridge as there’s no alternative route and residents believe the safety of motorists cannot be guaranteed.

Another resident believes that the community didn’t get value for the money spent on the project and insists it’s a wasted expenditure.

In response, Thulamela Municipality spokesperson, Nndwamato Tshiila, has confirmed that the repairs are underway and that the bridge will be ready for use by the end of this month.

Tshiila says, “There was some outstanding work that was supposed to be corrected, the other part of the snag list suppose to be corrected was due to the deck on top of the bridge that was supposed to be corrected because the surface was having some bumps we are expecting the handing over of the bridge to the community before the end of May 2022.

The construction of the bridge started in 2019. It was set to be completed in eleven months, but that was not the case as it took about two years.