Six months ago residents from the Swartkops, Aloes and Bluewater Bay area in Nelson Mandela Bay joined forces to save the historic Wylde Bridge over the Swartkops River. Now an alleged protection racket threatens to derail the community-driven project.

A hard-won community victory to save Gqeberha's oldest bridge has stalled amid allegations of a protection racket.

In November last year communities living around the historic Wylde Bridge joined forces to campaign for the restoration of the bridge.

They urged the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality to upgrade the entrance and exit points on the bridge to prevent trucks from using it.

Their protests and petitions paid off when the metro awarded a contract for barriers to be put up on both sides of the bridge and for maintenance.

The Wylde Bridge over the Swartkops River connects Amsterdamhoek and Swartkops. It was opened in September 1879 and is Gqeberha's oldest bridge.

It was initially refurbished in 2016 and painted in bright colours, each representing a burning issue, such as HIV/Aids, environmental awareness and saving water. As a result it became known in Gqeberha as the "Smartie Bridge".

However, during the refurbishment, the crossbars that imposed a height restriction for vehicles -- as...