Frustrated residents from over 20 villages in Vhembe took to the streets after flood damage washed away the only access road, leaving thousands cut off from schools, work, and essential services. Picture Credit: Supplied
By Ndivhuwo Mukwevho
Limpopo – Fed-up rural residents from more than 20 villages in Vhembe on Friday afternoon took to the streets in protest to demand for a better road, after a gravel road D3685, which connects their communities with the rest of the Limpopo province, was washed away during the recent floods.
Road D3685 is the only road which is able to connect villages such as Matavhela, Mabila, Guyuni, Tshixwadza, Gogogo and others, outside of Tshilamba. But it has been badly damaged, with washed away bridges and due to those residents of all those villages, has not been able to access essential services and others have not been able to go to work nor to attend schools.
“Enough is enough. We cannot carry on like this; our government does not care about us and our needs. We have been silent for too long and they continue to ignore us. We do not have a road, while we have been promised a tarred road more than two decades ago but still we continue to wait in vain,” says Patrick Mudau, a resident of Mabila village.
Most Vhembe villages were severely hit by floods about a week ago after continuous rains. This is the second time that the villages have been affected by floods this year as they were among the communities which were reported to have been flooded in January this year.
“For the past two weeks, I have not been able to go to work as buses have stopped coming to our village due to the condition of the road and there is no other alternative which I can use as no vehicle has been able to drive through this damaged road,” says Mudau.
Mudau told Timeless News that beside the Thulamela Local Municipality having failed to pave road D3685 something which they had promised local residents many years ago, they have also failed to maintain the gravel, which led to its current dilapidation.
The villages in question, consists of more than 70 thousands residents who depends of the road D3685 in order to get to their nearest town of Tshilamba to buy essentials.
Mavis Sirwali from Guyuni village told Timeless News that her last born daughter who is doing her grade 6 at a primary school located in Tshilamba town has not been able to go to school for the past two weeks.
“My daughter has not been to school since the road got damaged as there is no mode of transport to take her to school. I am just glad that the school understand the situation we are currently faced with,” says Sirwali.
Sirwali says that as she is someone who often gets ill and need medical services, she is just praying that she does not get sick anytime soon as she won’t be able to access medical services due to the current condition of the road.
“We are unable to get to the shops, clinics and even hospitals, so just imagine if one get sick during this time. I just hope and wish that I do not get sick as if one does, they are bound to die, because no ambulance will be able to come and take them,” says Sirwali.
Before taking to the street, residents of the 20 villages had given an ultimatum to the Thulamela Local Municipality, that if they are not given a date on when their road will be tarred they will protest and also not participate in the upcoming elections.
Rabelani Matahele, a community leader says that all they want is a tarred road.
“Our march was peaceful. We just want the authorities to know that we are suffering without a road,” says Matahele.
During the protest, a memorandum was handed out to a Thulamela Local Municipality representative, with an ultimatum that they should respond within 14 days.
