Floods: Up to E100 for help to cross river
MBELEBELENI- While the country is faced with flooding of bridges and rivers, some community members of Mbelebeleni are taking advantage by charging community members for assisting them cross the overflowing Mbuluzi River.
The community members include some Florence High School pupils, who are currently not attending school due to the flooded Mbuluzi River, and some community members who are unemployed. Both residents who commute either by foot or their vehicles are assisted to cross through the overflowing river at a cost.
Travelling
Those travelling by cars are charged E50 or E100, depending on how big the vehicle is, and those travelling by foot are charged E20.
According to one of the pupils attending a local school in the area, they took advantage of the fact that they were idle at home since they were not attending school due to the overflowing river.
“We saw an opportunity to assist community members cross through the river. We usually take their luggage or grocery bags and cross with them through the other side of the river and then come back to help them cross,” the community member explained.
He added that they often used a log to help them (residents) cross the river. Meanwhile, for those travelling in cars, he said some would request them to drive their vehicles through the river, while others only asked to be assisted with directions on how to navigate through the full river.
However, the charging of community members has been decried by some, as they felt they were being double taxed.
“Paying E50 for one trip is quite expensive as this is more than twice the amount for two litres of petrol. As it is, we are still grappling with the inflation of commodities and we have to now pay this much for crossing a river. It is just too much,” lamented one community member.
In the same breath, a commuter said the E20 that was being charged for being assisted to cross the river was costly as this was twice the amount she paid for bus fare. She said for the past two weeks, since the river was full, she had spent roughly over E400 for the trips through the river.
“On top of that, I have to pay bus fare. Government has got to do something about this because we are running out of money that we do not even have,” said the community member. Mkhiweni Member of Parliament Michael Ndlelayekuphila Masuku confirmed that this was being done at the Mbuluzi River.
Charging
He said although charging people was not ideal, he could not discourage community members from generating income because this was not illegal.
“Unless government can offer to assist community members, which is quite impossible at the moment, I don’t see why community members should not charge people for offering their services. Even then, no one is being forced as it is community members who ask for the assistance to get to their homes,” Masuku said.
Meanwhile, The MP said government had approved the construction of the bridge and they were only awaiting implementation.