{"id":50146,"date":"2022-03-01T17:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/mthathaexpress\/watch-fikile-mbalula-officially-reopens-r61-road-20220301\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T21:42:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T19:42:51","slug":"watch-fikile-mbalula-officially-reopens-r61-road-20220301","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/mthathaexpress\/watch-fikile-mbalula-officially-reopens-r61-road-20220301\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Fikile Mbalula officially reopens R61 road"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has officially reopened the R61 route between Ngcobo and Cofimvaba, which had been unusable to motorists due to a culvert that collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reopening of the route coincides with exactly two months since its closure on December 28 after the culvert\u2019s collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div contenteditable=\"false\" data-embed24=\"YouTube\" data-pos=\"middle\" id=\"embed_8714e461\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H7SDHLkmEDk\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Mbalula also used the reopening of the roads to confirm that the road will now be moved to the portfolio of SANRAL, and no longer be the responsibility of the provincial government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Motorists also welcomed the reopening of the route while also applauding government for the quick response to the culvert collapse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe collapse of the bridge really inconvenienced us as taxi operators as we were forced to divert to poor roads where our vehicles got stuck in the mud when raining. We also lost money because we had to give passengers to the other taxis on the other side of the collapsed culvert,\u201d said taxi operator Dumani Bikitsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read the full story in this week\u2019s <em>Mthatha Express<\/em> on Thursday, March 3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has officially reopened the R61 route between Ngcobo and Cofimvaba, which had been unusable to motorists due to a culvert that 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