No budget for major repairs to D533 near Hectorspruit

HECTORSPRUIT – The D533 road connecting the town and KaMhlushwa has deteriorated to such a point that it is currently more potholes than road.

Despite efforts from community members, business and political organisations, such as the DA, comprehensive road repairs are not currently in the budget of the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.

When Corridor Gazette employees traveled on the road last week, they had to drive next to the road in places due to the sheer number of potholes. In others, even the gravel shoulder of the road was in a very bad condition, and they had to travel very slowly to avoid damaging their vehicle.

According to the department’s spokesperson, Mxolisi Dlamini, the road has “reached its lifespan” and due to severe financial constraints no budget was allocated for the 2018/19 financial year.

Up to the 2017/18 financial year, the Ehlanzeni Regional Road Maintenance teams used to patch the potholes but the road is currently no longer economically repairable.

Dlamini explained that routine maintenance such as covering the potholes with gravel will be done at regular intervals until the reconstruction can be budgeted for.

According to Dlamini, backfilling was done in December and the beginning of January. These repairs will be repeated next week and include shoulder repairs.

Following efforts by local DA councillor, Mariette Preddy to get the road repaired before it worsened, her colleague, Bosman Grobler, a member of the provincial legislature, also officially inquired about the D533 road repairs and budget in September last year.

He was told that there are plans to rehabilitate the road, starting with design work to be done in the 2019/20 financial year. If there is budget available, the work will start in the following year.

Many lodges, reserves and businesses that used the road have been affected. Tourists struggle to traverse the terrain with normal vehicles and are slowly becoming unwilling to risk the damage.

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Some businesses have started avoiding the route or stopped deliveries, as the alternative route is much longer, increasing their costs.

Buscor had to start using an alternative route, which resulted in higher operating costs. According to the information they sent the department, Buscor ran 22 trips per day on the road and the route change affected 64 passengers.

On Bosman’s question regarding the economic impact of the poor roads on the community and businesses, the department stated that they are fully aware of the negative impact. “The department would wish to ensure that all roads in the province are in a fair to very good condition, but unfortunately the limited budgetary support constrains what can be achieved in a given period,” the reply read.

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Bosman encouraged community and civil organisations and businesses to write letters of complaint to the department, to ensure that government is aware of the full impact of this problem and will prioritise road repairs once the budget is available.