ZELDA VENTER
RESIDENTS of Nogqala village in the Eastern Cape had turned to court to force their municipality to build them an access road and to complete a bridge to connect their village to a nearby town because, as things stand, they have to cross a river by foot to get to the clinic, to shops, and the school.
The residents said that for years now they also had to carry their loved ones who had died through the river in a bid to bury them.
The AB Xuma Local Municipality (respondent) has started to construct the bridge, but it failed to start work on the access road, the community told the Eastern Cape High Court, sitting in Mthatha.
The applicants asked the court to compel the municipality to construct the Nogqala access road and complete the incomplete Nogqala crossing bridge.
They described the access road and the bridge to be constructed as one linking Nogqala location, Upper Mnyolo Administrative Area, Engcobo, Eastern Cape, to the towns of Engcobo and Ugie.
The court was told that the Nogqala residents cannot cross the river without the bridge, and the situation becomes worse when it is raining and the river becomes full.
The dire consequences of this are that school learners stay at home when the weather is bad for at least a month. This sometimes results in the learners dropping out of school.
They also said that during the times of death of one of the residents, male members of the community carry the casket crossing the river on foot and consequently walk long distances because of the incomplete bridge to bury one of their own.
The hardship of walking a long distance to reach the gravel road for transport is a general struggle of every resident of Nogqala Village. Their businesses are tremendously struggling as a result of the bad and poor condition of the road and the bridge.
The applicants contend that during 2021, the bridge was constructed for the first time since 1994 at the instance of the respondents but left unfinished. The bridge then became a source of danger to animals and the residents of Nogqala Village.
Pursuant to countless requests by the community to the respondents, community members instructed legal representatives to demand completion of the unfinished bridge, but to no avail. They were now left with no option but to turn to court.
The municipality, which cited a lack of money for not constructing the road, said it had already appointed the construction company to complete the uncompleted crossing bridge. However, no work relating to the construction of the access road has been and will be undertaken.
The residents of the Nogqala Village community said they have never had an access road since the advent of democracy. Pleas for the construction of a road were made to various councillors over the years, but all fell on deaf ears, despite promises made to them.
Meanwhile, some of the hardships faced by the Nogqala Village Community include that they cannot connect or go to Engcobo and Ugie to do their banking, shopping, and other necessities of life. They are simply cut off from these towns.
The municipality accepted that access to and from the village is substandard, but it blamed financial difficulties for the problem.
Acting Judge AS Zono accepted that the bridge is being completed but said he found the respondent’s failure to promptly take the necessary steps to construct the road in question to be unconstitutional and unlawful.
He ordered the municipality to immediately start with the building of the road and to give the residents frequent updates on how it's progressing.