{"id":250092,"date":"2023-02-15T13:33:22","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T11:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/article\/hundreds-in-lupapasi-village-stranded-after-bridge-collapses-in-heavy-downpour\/"},"modified":"2023-02-15T13:33:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T11:33:22","slug":"hundreds-stranded-in-eastern-cape-village-after-bridge-collapses-during-torrential-rains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/hundreds-stranded-in-eastern-cape-village-after-bridge-collapses-during-torrential-rains\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds stranded in Eastern Cape village after bridge collapses during torrential rains"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hundreds of people, including learners, can\u2019t get to work, school, or health facilities after the uNgqeqe bridge near Lupapasi Village collapsed on 8 February during heavy rainfall. Photo: Yonela Ngqukuvana<\/p>\n

Officials in the Eastern Cape Department of Transport say they may approach the national government to help fix collapsed bridges and other infrastructure damaged during torrential rains and flash flooding last week.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people in Lupapasi Village, which falls under the Emalahleni Local Municipality, have been cut off from the town after the main road was damaged and uNgqeqe bridge collapsed on 8 February. No fatalities or major injuries were reported in this region.<\/p>\n

According to ward committee member, Director Nqezo, many people and livestock were unable to return home once the bridge had collapsed. Local hospitals, clinics and schools also had to suspend services. Most learners were still at home on Wednesday 15 February because there is no safe alternative way to get to their schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI woke up at 5am [on 8 February] for a jog as I\u2019m training for a marathon. I got the shock of my life when I got to the bridge in such a disaster. We have never seen anything like this ever since the bridge was built in 1989. We don\u2019t know what to do,\u201d Nqezo said.<\/p>\n

Nqezo said they are pleading with the government to resolve the issues swiftly so villagers can get to clinics, schools, work and so that taxis can operate again. \u201cWe would appreciate it if the government could speed up the process by sending the army to fix the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfred Klaas is a taxi operator in Lupapasi. \u201cI can\u2019t work and I survive by transporting people. Now I won\u2019t be able to provide and feed my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for the provincial transport department, said that the damage caused by torrential rains continues to cause havoc in parts of the Eastern Cape as many roads and bridges have been damaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department is committing to work with its partners, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs [and disaster management], to ensure that communities that are disconnected are reconnected as a matter of priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already dispatched emergency teams to urgently assess the damage and advise. Steps will also be taken to approach the national government for possible support,\u201d said Binqose.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source: GroundUp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of people, including learners, can\u2019t get to work, school, or health facilities after the uNgqeqe bridge near Lupapasi Village collapsed on 8 February during heavy rainfall. Photo: Yonela Ngqukuvana Officials in the Eastern Cape Department of Transport say they may approach the national government to help fix collapsed bridges and other infrastructure damaged during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9928],"tags":[28001],"class_list":{"0":"post-250092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-groundup","8":"tag-groundup","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/hundreds-stranded-in-eastern-cape-village-after-bridge-collapses-during-torrential-rains.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}