The City became aware of the illegal digging under the Bonteheuwel Bridge just before the railway line along Jakes Gerwel Drive on Friday evening, 23 October 2026.

The digging and tunnelling have impacted the road surface of this section of Jakes Gerwel Drive and the RIM Department has been on site the whole weekend to conduct the repairs.

• The southbound lanes of Jakes Gerwel Drive between Bofors Circle and the N2 highway will be open to traffic during the morning peak on Monday, 26 October 2026, but traffic flow will be impacted.
• The RIM department will implement the closure of the two righthand lanes at around 09:30, after the morning peak period, and these lanes will remain closed until the road repairs have been concluded
• As a result, road users should anticipate delays and congestion along this section of Jakes Gerwel Drive into Monday evening, 26 October 2026
• If all goes as planned, the work should be concluded by early evening

‘People have been digging out the sand under the Bonteheuwel Bridge to create space for living and sleeping, it seems. This has impacted the section of the road surface of Jakes Gerwel Drive in the vicinity of the bridge, just before the railway line. Officials have been working for two days now, but unfortunately, we will not be done before Monday.

‘We ask road users to please avoid this section of Jakes Gerwel Drive tomorrow, and to consider using alternative routes if possible. Traffic flow will be impacted as road users will have to slow down when approaching the gravel patches on the southbound lanes. Once we close the two righthand lanes along this section, traffic flow will be even slower, thus best is to avoid Jakes Gerwel Drive if you can. We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while we are doing the repairs,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas.

The City requests any person who sees people digging under bridges to report this immediately to the City’s call centre.