IF you were driving through Mazisi Kunene Road yesterday, you may have seen Trish Van Der Dyl outside of her home, directing traffic away from a ditch in the road which she was filling with sand. According to Van Der Dyl, she has taken matters into her own hands after having to deal with cars constantly speeding over the ditch, which she fears is a significant safety hazard.

“The ditch has been here for about three months. It was left here after the City came to do work on a leaking pipe and a water leak that was affecting our property, and it has been here ever since the repair was completed three months ago.”

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“The reason why I am filling this hole with sand is not only because I am worried about drivers who aren’t aware of the hole when driving into it, but because every time a car is driven over the ditch, there is a loud noise that disturbs us on a daily and nightly basis,” said Van Der Dyl.

The Glenwood resident says she fears for the safety of drivers on Mazisi Kunene Road. “I know there’s a ditch here, so I drive around it, but someone else who doesn’t know could seriously damage their tyres, or worse, get into an accident because they didn’t see it and sped over it.”

To tackle the problem head-on, the local resident headed out today with her wheelbarrow full of filling sand and got to work. “I collected some tarmac and filling sand and came out today with my wheelbarrow and spade and filled the hole so it’s easier to drive over and hopefully causes less of a sound when cars drive past our home.”

Watch Glenwood resident Trisha Van Der Dyl take road maintenance on her road into her own hands:

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