DA blasts R400 million Gauteng bridge as wasteful and pointless

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has condemned the Gauteng department of transport and logistics and the Emfuleni local municipality for spending over R400 million on a bridge project in Emfuleni.

The DA criticized the expenditure as wasteful and ineffective, emphasizing that the bridge does not serve a practical purpose, as it leads to nowhere.

This criticism is heightened by the context of a significant service delivery crisis currently affecting the region.

According to reports, the new Flyover Bridge built on the R42, which was intended to link the northern developed area to the R42, as well as the future development of Vaal River City, has cost an exorbitant amount of taxpayers’ money.

DA Emfuleni mayoral candidate Kingsol Chabalala said the project has been plagued by delays and remains incomplete, while residents of Emfuleni continue to be deprived of efficient service delivery.

Service delivery should be prioritized over a bridge, as emphasized by Chabalala. He asserted that the concept is fundamentally straightforward, indicating that the focus should remain on effective service provision rather than infrastructure projects.

“The bridge is the least of Emfuleni’s residents’ concerns. The R400 million could have been directed towards addressing inoperable rubbish dumps and raw sewerage flowing through what remains of roads across the municipality.

“We submitted questions in the Gauteng provincial legislature to demand answers on the intent and purpose of the bridge, as well as the logistics surrounding its construction. What was revealed demonstrated that the building of the bridge was an exercise in futility.

Bridge with no purpose

“The failure to plan by the ANC-led municipality has resulted in the construction of a bridge that is effectively a dead end. There were two bridges allegedly built to connect to the flyover, yet both also lead to dead ends,” he cited.

Chabalala indicated that the estimated cost for completing the connecting roads is R55 million.

This estimate relies on the Vaal River City development, a private developer, obtaining funding for this part of the project, though no specific timeframe has been established.

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He added, “It is important to note that these connecting roads were not included in the original provincial road project scope and are located on private land.

“The entirety of the bridge and its construction display nothing short of an absence of strategic foresight on behalf of the ANC-led administration.”