WATCH | Troubled waters: Dikidikini residents renew their desperate plea for bridge over Mzintlava River
This week, Eyewitness News is in the Eastern Cape, where pupils in Dikidikini are forced to cross dangerous rivers among other survival tactics, on the back of repeated failed promises from government to build much-needed bridges and roads.
Pupils carry their school uniform and shoes above their heads to keep them dry as they cross the river. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/Eyewitness News
MOUNT FRERE - With South Africa now poised for its 7th general elections, Eyewitness News has taken to the streets across the country, feeling the pulse of the nation as citizens prepare for the national and provincial polls.
This week, Eyewitness News is in the Eastern Cape, where pupils in eDikidikini are forced to cross dangerous rivers among other survival tactics, on the back of repeated failed promises from government to build much-needed bridges and roads.
Many have drowned while waiting for those interventions.
South Africans have become accustomed to witnessing footage of people crossing flooded rivers.
This has now become a big talking point as voters prepare to cast their ballots in May.
Eyewitness News visited the community of eDikidikini near Flagstaff in the OR Tambo District, where crossing more than 100 metres of murky waters of the Mzintlava River is a part of daily life for learners and residents alike, just to get to school on the banks of the river.
It becomes especially difficult for young pupils at the Mneketshe Combined School on the banks of the Mzintlava River when it rains and the river overflows.
A group of pupils making their way to school in Dikidikini. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/Eyewitness News
Pupils are forced to completely immerse themselves in the river in order to get to school. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/Eyewitness News
Grade four and five teacher Nontsindiso Msentwa said she was unaware of the seriousness of the matter for learners when she arrived at the school last year.
“I only saw when I arrived at the school that people have to cross the river in big plastic containers. And when the river overflows, it’s very difficult because our learners are very young and small. Even for the older children.”
The teachers of Dikidikini say when it rains heavily, they tell the pupils to not come to school, as they fear they will drown when crossing the river. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/Eyewitness News
Villagers have been known to get washed away and some never found, according to local resident Khayalethu Qhanqala, who has been crossing the river for years.
"Every year it keeps happening when people get swept away. One person was swept away last year, and I don’t think they were ever found".
With provincial and national elections on the horizon, the locals do say the government has delivered electricity, but more can be done about roads and infrastructure.
Another local said the only thing the municipality had provided was electricity connections.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said while they were addressing the problem by building bridges, the province's topography and climate changes made things difficult.
“With this climate change, even a stream becomes a river. It’s a problem this issue of global warming, in our situation as a province being a rural province. But also, our topography itself being mountainous and all that, that becomes really challenging. But we have a plan.”
But while authorities continue to make promises to the eDikidikini community, residents continue to suffer the consequences of inaction.