Business owners outraged at state of Bulpin Street in Mbombela
The City of Mbombela does not have the funds to rebuild Bulpin Street, and business owners in the area are outraged as they feel they are now expected to fund the repairs.
There are no municipal funds to repair Bulpin Street and businesses are expected to use their own capital to repair it, according to the business owners in the area.
They claim to have been informed by the City of Mbombela (CoM) that it does not have funds to rebuild the road. They said the municipality said it cannot get asphalt to repair the potholes in the road, because of non-payment to the service provider. The businesses in the area said they had written to the CoM on several occasions asking them to repair the damaged road, but nothing positive has transpired.
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“We don’t know why we have to keep on fixing the road that belongs to the municipality as we are paying rates and taxes. The road is one of the economic roads where businesses have created employment for lots of people. We are calling on the CoM to take responsibility and fix it,” they said.
According to them, it will cost about R2m to rehabilitate the road and the business owners say they do not have the money to do that. “If we must fix that road ourselves, it means all businesses within the municipality must fix their roads, too, even though it’s not their responsibility. What they are doing to us is not fair,” they said.
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Meanwhile, one of the business owners, Charl Breytenbach, said: “This is not only Bulpin Street. Come and see what the rest of Suikerriet and Bosch streets look like. This industrial area is a ticking time bomb. Soon no vehicles will be able to use these roads. It will be absurd if the expectation is for rate- and tax-paying businesses to fix the roads at their own expense.”
He also said the road needs to be rebuilt, not only repaired, because it is in such a bad state. “Fixing the potholes will be a waste of money and won’t last long, because of its condition. The CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, acknowledged the receipt of the request and is aware of the situation. He promised to revert back to us, but he has not done so,” said Breytenbach.
