Traffic was briefly brought to a standstill in Kariega on Monday when dozens of taxis blocked streets to protest the poor state of roads and to demand repairs to the Matanzima bridge.
Dozens of taxi operators and drivers under the Uitenhage and District Taxi Association (UDTA) in KwaNobuhle, Kariega blocked roads on Monday to demand answers about the collapsed Matanzima bridge.
Related: Taxi Strike OFF
The bridge, along with the Niven’s bridge, across the Swartkops River, were damaged in heavy rainfall and floods in June and again in October. With only one major access road from KwaNobuhle, traffic congestion has become unbearable.
The protest happened during a meeting with members of UDTA, the South African National Civil Organisation (SANCO), the South African Police Service (SAPS), ward councillors and the Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Babalwa Lobishe.
Members of UDTA were seen storming out of the meeting on Monday, accusing other attendees of avoiding the “burning issues” such as the reconstruction of the Matanzima bridge.
Mthuthuzeli Madwara, general secretary of SANTACO in the Eastern Cape, was among those who left the meeting. “Our vehicles are getting damaged by bad roads. We have been waiting for the bridge to be fixed for a long time. We are not here for politics. Let’s not generalise and discuss other issues. This meeting has one agenda, the bridge, nothing else,” he said.
The mayor urged the taxi drivers to remain calm and stop protesting as she claimed a contractor will be appointed on Tuesday to start work on the bridge. “We will give letters to the contractors, at a cost of about R89 million. We assume the project to fix the bridge will take nine to twelve months.”
She said the City had already spent R44-million on disaster-related repairs and construction.
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The Howling Swede
So I\’m real good friends with this guy named Juan Ted. Now, Juan is a pretty incredible guy. He can steal ANYTHING he wants to. Literally anything. It could be the shirt off your back, the wallet in your pocket, or I\’m even sure he\’d find a way to steal your house (And your spouse too). So anyway, one day Juan and I are sitting around watching TV, and they announced that the hope diamond will not be on display anymore and is now getting moved to an undisclosed location. So as we hear this, Juan says \”I\’m gonna steal it\”. Now I know how good Juan is at this kind of stuff, so I just tell him good luck and he goes on his way. Eventually he narrows his search down to a small cave in South Africa. When Juan gets there, he doesn\’t see any guards or anything outside the cave, so he just walks in assuming he was wrong about where the diamond was. He wanders around for a while until he sees a long lit hallway with the hope diamond at the end of it. Confident in his abilities, he strolls over to the diamond and picks it up before realizing its a trap! Suddenly, red lights flashed, armed men came running out, sirens went off. You could hear one of the men say under his breath \”We finally caught Juan Ted.\” But Juan, being the best thief in the world, said \”Not quite. On the count of three, I will disappear.\” As the men looked around confused, Juan began to count. \”Uno. Dos.\” And he disappeared without a tres.
Redfeet
Now Now – immediately / soon. A confusing phrase for non-locals meaning sometime soon – sooner than just now but quicker than right now.Example: “We’re going to the beach now now!” (But first we have to pack our swimming gear, stop at gas station and maybe get some snacks…).