ABERDEEN NEWS - The huge tailback of gridlocked traffic on the R61, approaching the Aberdeen checkpoint, was cleared by early afternoon yesterday (12 June) and traffic flowed freely in both directions.
SANDF and SAPS Casspirs reached the roadblock mid-morning, and Graaff-Reinet cluster commander Brigadier Rudolph Adolph arrived and took control of the situation.
An additional temporary checkpoint was set up on the N9, between Aberdeen and Graaff-Reinet, to release the pressure on the R61 checkpoint. Ten vehicles at a time were taken from the queue and escorted to the temporary post, and by 2pm the road was clear.
There has been repeated pressure on the checkpoint every weekend since lockdown, but the long weekends have seen even more traffic flowing into the Eastern Cape. This causes disruption for local farmers and inconvenience to delivery vehicles, including those retuning to the Western Cape.
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