Panorama Route road repairs lauded

The FF Plus and the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT) have welcomed repairs on the disintegrating and pothole ridden roads around Hazyview and Sabie.

FF Plus councillor Ken Robertson said constant communication over eight months with Mpumalanga’s MEC for the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (PWRT), Mohita Latchminarain, resulted in various roads on the popular tourism route finally getting some much-needed attention.

These included work on the D514 in Kiepersol, the R536 between Sabie and Hazyview, and the R535 between Graskop and Hazyview. The repairs form part of the department’s war on potholes, campaign (Vala Zonke), launched earlier this month. Potholes on these roads have caused serious damage to vehicles of local and international tourists not familiar with the poor conditions.

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Hazyview, Sabie and Graskop are internationally renowned tourist destinations and Robertson said it “was imperative to ensure that visitors are able to travel safely”. The COO of KLCBT, Linda Grimbeek, said she is glad as the organisation had been begging the provincial government to intervene.

“The tourism industry is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the bad state of the roads was costing the industry. Once their vehicles are damaged, tourists do not return,” she said. Grimbeek has no doubt that tour guides and tourists who enjoy visiting the iconic Panorama Route, will once again enjoy it and that would be good for business.

“We are still appealing to the department to also rehabilitate the road from Graskop to Pilgrim’s Rest, and from Barberton to the Swaziland border gate as that is a heritage site. We believe that these will be included in its programme of war on potholes,” she concluded.

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The spokesperson for PWRT, Bongani Dlamini, said Operation Vala Zonke is a countrywide campaign and is aimed at fixing all potholes on Mpumalanga roads.

“The province is a popular tourist destination, hence the focus on the various tourism routes in the province. It is an ongoing programme with emphasis on the community to report potholes using the Sanral app,” he said.

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