TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS: Mugwazeni and Akanani Residents Forced to Build Their Own Bridge amid Municipal Indifference

TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS: Mugwazeni and Akanani Residents Forced to Build Their Own Bridge amid Municipal Indifference

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA 

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​TZANEEN — The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) has issued an urgent plea for intervention, calling on local authorities to immediately assist the rural communities of Mugwazeni and Akanani villages in ward five with the construction of a safe, professionally engineered bridge.

​Fed up with years of systemic neglect, local residents have resorted to constructing a makeshift river crossing themselves following continued inaction from their ward councillor, the ward committee, and the ANC-led Greater Tzaneen Municipality.

​For the latest updates on rural service delivery failures, municipal infrastructure, and community-led initiatives across Limpopo, follow KASIBC_AFRICA at WWW.KASIBC.BLOGSPOT.COM.

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Thousands of School Children Placed at Serious Risk

​The absence of a reliable river crossing has created a logistical and safety nightmare for the area's youth. Learners from Nkambako village who attend Mugwazeni Secondary School currently have no safe, proper route to class.

​Similarly, younger learners from Mugwazeni who attend Nkambako and Akanani Primary Schools face identical, treacherous conditions daily. Mugwazeni village alone has an estimated 2,000 school-going children whose education and safety are actively compromised by this lack of basic infrastructure. 

Ordinary residents attempting to travel to work are also forced to navigate unsafe terrain just to secure a livelihood.

​Community members revealed that they have repeatedly knocked on the doors of the ANC ward councillor and municipal officials, only for their formal requests to be met with complete indifference and bureaucratic inaction.

​The Danger of Unregulated DIY Infrastructure

​While the DA highly commended the sheer resilience and initiative shown by the villagers—who have begun crowdfunding and sourcing building materials like cement, bricks, wire, and manual labor from their own homes—the party warned that this setup is deeply concerning.

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