The R61 road between Ngcobo and Cofimvaba has been officially opened to motorists, following a two-month closure to repair a culvert that collapsed due to flooding on December 28 last year.
The road was officially reopened by Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, on February 28 as promised when he earlier visited the site to monitor the repair work on February 5.
Mbalula also revealed, during the reopening of the culvert, that the R61 route will now be managed by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), taking it over from the provincial roads department.
“I am happy that the repair work on the road has been completed, as this is one of the busiest roads connecting the Eastern Cape and Western Cape. We will be handing over the road to SANRAL to manage in terms of maintenance and expansion,” Mbalula said.
He further reiterated his earlier promise that his department would be constructing 95 bridges in rural areas as well as eradicating low-lying bridges, which are unpassable when there are heavy rains, during the coming financial year.
Taxi operators, who were some of the motorists who were hit the hardest by the temporary closure of the R61 road, have also welcomed the completion of the repair work and reopening of the road.
“We lost a lot of money due to the culvert collapse because it meant that we had to drop passengers at the culvert and give them to other drivers on the other side, which meant they paid half of what I would normally get and the other half to the taxis on the other side,” said taxi operator, Zongezile Ngqumshe.
He said they were happy by the urgency shown by government in repairing the road.
