Outrage as authorities delay building N2 footbridges near schools

‘We are asking them to prioritise our children’s safety’

SOMERSET West residents and two primary schools are reacting with outrage over the constant “blame game” by authorities while pupils are killed and injured as they cross the busy N2 freeway.

The residents and the schools have been waiting for a pedestrian bridge over the N2 at De Beers Avenue and Victoria Street for almost 30 years.

The road, also known as Trunk Road 2 (T2), has been the scene of numerous pedestrian deaths and injuries over the years.

A Grade 7 pupil at Danie Ackermann Primary was hit by a car last Friday.

The 11 year old relies on public transport to get to school from Macassar.

Last year a seven year old and her mother were knocked over by a car while on their way to collect her report card.

Danie Ackermann Primary school principal Hein Swart said: “the Western Cape Department of Education are the only ones who support our call for the bridge, and who have tried to help”.

“We have sent e-mails and tried to make phone calls to the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and the Department of Transport and Public Works but there was no response.

“The continuous failure to build the pedestrian bridge is violating children’s rights to education as enshrined in the constitution.”

Swart said because of the urgency of the matter they resorted to consulting Chandré Stuurman, an attorney at the Equal Education Law Centre to assist them.

“The centre engaged with them for eight months, and an agreement was reached that construction should commence by the end of the 2018/2019 financial year.

“We cannot wait that long while our children are dying. We then asked for short-term measures until the bridge is erected, but they have been mum.

“We are asking them to prioritise our children’s safety,” he said.

Sanral spokesperson Melany Kuhn said the agency was not responsible for the portion of road in question; it was under the jurisdiction of the Western Cape Department of Transport.

However, Siphesihle Dube, the spokesperson for MEC of Transport and Public Works Donald Grant, said Sanral was responsible for the erection of the footbridge.

Meanwhile, in another incident, a Maitland Secondary School pupil, Bianca Ngolli, 16, was killed when she was hit by a truck outside the school last week.

She was standing on the pavement when the truck’s trailer cut across the corner and hit her.

Maitland Secondary School principal Riedwaan Kenny said his pupils, and pupils from a nearby primary school were at great risk due to the high volume of truck traffic throughout the day.

“Sometimes those trucks line up along the side of the road in order to enter the container depot, and they form a 500m-long line.

“The concern is that the roads are very narrow there, and especially in the afternoon when schools are out.”