R532 a route of contention for residents
A resident and business owner, Karen van der Meulen, said the state of the R532, which acts as one of the main arteries for tourists to the area around the Blyde River Canyon, has deteriorated to the point where she and fellow road users are worried about the safety of motorists and pedestrians.
GRASKOP – The state of the R532 between Graskop and Ohrigstad has led to motorists and residents of the area seeking alternative avenues of road maintenance.
This is due to claims by residents and business owners that the provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT) has not maintained the road surface for more than three years.
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“This is a very busy route for tourists. The state of the road is shocking. Our provincial government wants to kill tourism in this province by neglecting infrastructure and endangering the lives of guests,” said Van der Meulen.
According to Magdeline Matentshi of the DPWRT, it plans to carry out major maintenance and rehabilitation on the road in the medium to long term, subject to budget availability.
“Currently funding is constrained by the limited budget. However, routine maintenance and pothole patching are being carried out to keep the road trafficable,” said Matentshi. She said as of January 31, 89 per cent of the provincial budget for road maintenance and upgrades had been utilised, with the aim of 100 per cent utilisation by the end of the financial year, March 31.
With R2,4 billion budgeted for provincial roads for the 2017/18 financial year to service a total road network
of approximately 13 875 kilometres, R682 million was spent on rehabilitation of existing roads. R466 million was spent on major maintenance and R229,6 million on upgrading gravel roads to tarred ones.
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According to the DPWRT the remainder of the budget was spent on routine maintenance and the rehabilitation of gravel roads in the province.
Matentshi added that no under-expenditure of the current budget is anticipated.
According to information provided by the department, of the 17 major projects undertaken in the 2017/18 financial year to date, the R532 has not been identified for upgrades or maintenance.
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“Work is planned so that there is no break at the end or beginning of a financial year. Most projects are multi-year, hence are implemented over more than one financial year,” Matentshi concluded.
