The Limpopo MEC for Roads and Transport, Ms Pinky Kekana, announced during her budget speech in the Limpopo Legislature, that the Lutanandwa bridge on the Louis Trichardt-Thohoyandou road will soon be repaired.

According to Kekana, her department has put aside an amount of R43 million for the construction of two bridges in the province, namely the Lutanandwa bridge and the bridge on the Witlaagte road.

“An additional R11 million will be used for the construction of a Bridge at Seloane in Mopani. The design of the Lutanandwa bridge is completed and construction will commence in this fi-nancial year,” she said.

This comes after residents of Louis Trichardt, Levubu and Thohoyandou, as well as the surrounding areas, had been complaining and blaming the Department of Roads and Transport in Limpopo for ignoring them and not being serious about fixing the bridge that collapsed in November last year. Motorists are now forced to take a 25-kilometre detour via Levubu if they want to travel between Louis Trichardt and Thohoy-andou.

The detour which mo-torists are supposed to use is putting farmers in danger as motorists drive at high speeds. It also makes it difficult for them to transport their produce around the area as motorists threaten the lives of tractor drivers in the area. Farmers are also complaining that the surface of the road is quickly deteriorating as a result of the heavy traf-fic on the detour.

Asked as to when motorists can expect the construction of the bridge to start, the spokesman for the Department of Roads and Transport in Limpopo, Mr Boiki Tsedu, said that he was not sure, because the South African National Roads Agency in Limpopo (SANRAL) are the ones who will issue a tender to fix the bridge. Attempts to reach the spokesperson for SANRAL were unsuccessful.