The Democratic Alliance (DA) has asked the MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport, Ms Mohita Latchminarain, to ensure that targets in the department’s Annual Performance Plan (APP) are met in order to maintain dilapidated and potholed roads throughout the province.
It is the opinion of the DA that most roads in Mpumalanga are currently in dangerous conditions, and this is a result of a lack of routine maintenance either caused by a shortfall in the department’s budget or the failure to meet targets.
“Recently, poor road conditions in Mpumalanga in particular potholes, were under the spotlight when it was reported that eMalahleni’s mayor, Ms Linah Malatjie, was killed in an accident caused by potholes on the R544 between Gemsbokspruit and Verena,” Trudie Grovè-Morgan, DA spokesman on Public Works, Roads & Transport said.
The DA called on MEC Latchminarain to assess the state of various municipal areas after heavy rains ravaged roads over the past few months.
Additionally, the DA said the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport has a unique opportunity to create much-needed jobs for hundreds of thousands of residents – 46.4% in the province – who are unemployed.
The DA therefore opposed the department’s act of decreasing the number of work opportunities created by the transport sector from 37 285 in the 2018/2019 financial year to only 6 238 in 2020/2021.
Accordingly, the DA urges Latchminarain to ensure that the APP’s targets are met in the coming year and that they focus on road conditions, community-based operations, and job creation.
Highvelder reached out to the MEC’s office for a response, no responce was received at the time of going to press.
