South Africa suffers from vandalism to infrastructure, including periodic theft and damage to roads, water and electricity networks. A post shared on Facebook claimed the pillars supporting the President Steyn Bridge in Pretoria were being cut down by criminals. The claims are misleading; Officials clarified that the alleged damage highlighted in social media videos is a design feature of the bridge and not the work of vandals, although opportunistic theft of some steel plates between the expansion joints appears to have occurred.
“Be careful when driving past the President Styein Bridge in Pretoria North. They have cut or are in the process of cutting the pillars that hold the bridge (sick),” reads one Facebook after published on November 24, 2024.
Screenshot of the misleading message taken on December 20, 2024
The accompanying video shows various pillars of the bridge. Each pillar has prominent horizontal openings near the base. As the camera zooms in on some of these pillars, the structure immediately surrounding these openings appears to fray slightly.
The same excerpt was published on X, linking illegal immigrants to the alleged vandalism of the bridge.
“BREAKING NEWS: President Styen Street Bridge, Pretoria North has been destroyed, it is believed that illegal Zimbabwean foreigners nailing cars have now shifted their focus to destroying infrastructure,” reads the after published the same day.
“It appears @nasiphim will have to redouble her efforts in @CityofTswwe and remove foreigners from the city before the lives of innocent South Africans are lost.”
Nasiphi Moya is the mayor of the City of Tshwaneone of South Africa’s metros where Pretoria is located (archived here And here).
Screenshot of the misleading message taken on December 17, 2024
The clip was also shared here on X and here on Facebook with similar claims.
Crisis of vandalism in infrastructure
According to one report published by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, South Africa’s infrastructure is suffering from the persistent and organized theft of copper, which has impacted the transport, energy, water, communications and fuel sectors.
The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport reported more than R30 million (about $1.6 million) in damage to traffic lights across the province by 2023 (archived here).
Following a wave of cable thefts and infrastructure tampering, Tshwane city officials called on communities to protect municipal infrastructure from vandalism in April 2024 (archived here).
More recently, on December 16, 2024, electrical infrastructure in the Centurion area of Tshwane was destroyed, prompting municipal officials announce intensified efforts to combat vandalism (archived here And here).
However, the claim about the video is misleading.
Original design feature
After the claims appeared on social media, Moya, accompanied by Tshwane engineers, decided visited the bridge on November 26, 2024 for inspection and assured motorists that it was structurally sound (archived here).
Moya explained that the so-called “notches” on the pillars are a feature of the bridge’s original design (archived here).
“We can confirm that the indentations at the bottom of the bridge piers are the same as those on top of the piers. It’s part of the design, a German-inspired design, that was built in the 1950s, she said.
The connections at the top and bottom of the bridge piers are visible Google Maps photos from 2009, refuting claims that they are the result of recent vandalism.
In the video on Moya’s X account, one of her colleagues explained that the holes were to absorb shock.
Moya added that there were metal plates in the openings, which she acknowledged were being targeted by criminals.
“However, there are plates on the cuts that criminals are removing and in the process they are damaging the structure of the bridge… Out of the three columns, the two columns they took have those plates… We need the metro police to declare this bridge as a hotspot so that they do not come back and damage the third column.”
Screenshots of the misleading message showing parts of metal plates in the openings of two pillars, taken on December 18, 2024
She made no mention of the nationalities of the people who removed the metal plates.
Anti-immigrant sentiments
High unemployment High interest rates, among other things, have exacerbated anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa, where immigrants are often seen as competitors for the country’s limited employment opportunities (archived here).
As a result, foreigners are the target of recurring attacks xenophobic attacks and intimidation, including the looting of their businesses (archived here).
Tshwane residents have done so in the past protested against undocumented immigrants living in South Africa.
South African Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said in October 2024 that Pretoria has spent R53 million (about US$2.8 million) on deport undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom were Zimbabweans (archived here And here).
AFP Fact Check has approached various construction companies and will adjust this report accordingly.
