FTLM exposed further in trying to cover-up Mafarafara bridge saga

BURGERSFORT 

The Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality has for the first time responded to media queries about the trending makeshift bridge, erected with poles and corrugated iron in Mafarafara Village.

Acting FTLM communications manager, Mahlako Komane spoke to the SABC News Channel 404 on July 11. The interview comes a few days after the Sekhukhune Times had published the front-page article titled: ‘Residents build a makeshift bridge to cross dangerous river.’

The article exposed the Mafarafara community’s challenges and daily sufferings in the village.

Speaking in a telephonic interview, with the SABC crew, Komane said the Taung Clinic is not the only option for Mafarafara residents to access healthcare. She said there are clinics in Burgersfort, Ga Motodi and Praktiseer that residents can visit for health checkups.

Komane said for the government to construct the Mafarafara access bridge, it will need the involvement of both the provincial and national government, as the Steelpoort River is big.

She said it was by choice for residents to cross the river, as there were schools and clinics they can access.

“There issue here is not that Mafarafara is landlocked, and there are no services given to the community. It is not that the municipality has not done anything in Mafarafara,” said the communications manager.

Sekhukhune Times understands, the Mafarafara village has no high school after the only secondary school in the area, Mashakwaneng, was closed down during Limpopo’s school rationalisation programme in 2022.

Therefore, school children are forced to cross the bridge daily to access schooling at Taung Village.

The Sekhukhune Times is also familiar with the Mafarafara area which is more than 31 kilometres out of Burgersfort.

According to locals, a taxi trip to and from Mafarafara to Burgersfort, Ga Motodi, Kgautswane and Praktiseer (nearby areas with clinics) costs more than R100, this implies residents will be forced to pop up  hefty amounts to access clinical services.

Responding to Komane via the link on You Tube uploaded by the SABC, resident of Mafarafara @Paballo Afrika said: “I am frustrated by your lies Mahlako.

Taung Clinic is the only clinic within a reasonable travelling distance for Mafarafara residents. How much are people expected to spend on transport just to access clinics in Praktiseer or Burgersfort?

“’ Yes, residents cross the river because that is the only practical way to access healthcare. Saying that Mafarafara is not the only village that has to travel long distances for basic services is not a defence.

“If anything, it highlights an even bigger failure: several villages are being expected to share one clinic despite the unreasonable distances involved. Makotaseng and Ga-Matokomane, which are even closer to Mafarafara, also have neither a healthcare facility nor a high school.

 So what picture are you trying to paint? That because multiple villages are neglected, the neglect is somehow acceptable? That is not an explanation, it is an admission that these communities have been failed.”

According to the residents, building a bridge linking Taung and Mafarafara is the best option to end their misery.