The residents of Valdezia have decided to repair the bridge in their area and to fill the potholes on their own. They accuse the Makhado Municipality of failing to maintain infrastructure in the villages.
The community was left stranded after heavy rains had swept away the access bridge and damaged the road. The residents collected money to buy cement and sand to fix the road themselves.
"The residents are under pressure as the Makhado Municipality is failing in its duties. Because residents are not prepared to sit back and watch how their village wanes, they are taking ownership of the problems themselves," said a concerned resident, Mr Nkombyani.
Instead of sitting down and pretending that everything was fine, the community members came up with a turnaround strategy. A few weeks ago, the village was a hive of activity, with people from all walks of life coming together to work on the infrastructure.
Nkombyani told Limpopo Mirror that the affected communities were no longer able to access key services, because of the damaged roads. He called for urgent efforts to fix the roads and bridges recently damaged by the flood.
He said the link between the Mambedi and Valdezia communities, for instance, was cut off after the bridge that joined the two places was swept away. "That is a very busy road, but since it was damaged by the rains, there has been reduced movement. We appeal to developing partners to chip in and help us rehabilitate this bridge," said Nkombyani. "Other roads in the district were also damaged. This has affected the availability of key services."
Nkomnbyani said that the community had made many representations to the government, asking them to bring essential services to them, but they had had no luck. "We have knocked on many doors of the government, including Makhado Municipality, but each time we were given empty promises. We have waited for far too long, and we don´t feel like we belong to this government," he said.
When contacted, Cllr David Ndou said that he had met with the community of Valdezia. He further said that the rehabilitation of the road and bridge were in the municipality's Integrated Development Plan (IDP). He said that because of the current rain, they could not fix the roads. "When the rain stops, a grader can be sent," he said.