Scores of travellers headed to the Eastern Cape from Gauteng were stopped at a roadblock on the N6 near Aliwal North in the early hours of this morning.
Police and traffic officers initially instructed the travellers to return to their provinces as the grace period to travel between provinces without permits had expired at midnight.
Hundreds spent hours stranded in busses, taxis and cars.
A woman headed for Komani told The Rep she was going home to tend to her sick mother. Her taxi left Johannesburg at 8pm. “The busses were fully booked and I had to resort to a taxi which left Johannesburg at 8pm for Komani.”
Speaking from the roadblock, she said: “We have been waiting for hours hoping things would be different after 5am.”
She said they were finally allowed to go after 2pm.
However, she said there were no Covid-19 screenings at the roadblock.
Eastern Cape Transport spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said the N6 was opened by SAPS provincial commissioner, Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga and the Free State commissioner, Lt Gen Moeketsi David Sempe.
“The 86 minibuses entered the Eastern Cape, and it was quite busy,” said Binqose.
