Thaba Chweu blames Lydenburg’s potholes on ongoing rains
The DA councillor, Marius Opperman, recently refuted the TCLM’s statement that constant rainfall was the main cause of the dilapidated state of the town’s roads.
Many residents were stumped when the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) recently sent out a notice blaming the severe potholes in municipal roads in and around Lydenburg on the rains.
The notice unleashed harsh criticism that the state of the roads had been in a dire condition long before the rainy season.
The announcement was published on the municipality’s Facebook page on January 6. It read: “The municipality acknowledges the state of our roads due to ongoing heavy rains. Kindly note that temporary measures to repair the roads are in progress, however, the prevailing wet conditions present a challenge. A permanent solution will be implemented when the rain ceases.”
According to Ward 12’s DA councillor, Marius Opperman, the problem extends much further than that. “Yes, the current rainfall does add to the deterioration of the roads, but the truth is that maintenance to the roads in Thaba Chweu had been neglected for the past 30 years.”
Also read: Lydenburg’s rising water levels not to be dismissed
Opperman said the last time any maintenance was done to the roads in this suburb was in March 2023 when the contractor who renovated De Clerq Street showed some generosity and filled and graded the existing roads. “Everyone knew it would not last, as the rain eventually washed away the filling, but at least it helped for a while.
Before then and since 2021 when I was elected as councillor for this ward, the TCLM did nothing to assist the residents of Ext 2 with their roads, which were already in a very poor state.”
He said some of the worst streets in town include Morgan, Brown, Seventh, Jansen and Joubert.
Opperman said the residents are sick and tired of paying for services when they cannot reach their houses without damaging their vehicles.
Some of the reactions from residents on TCLM’s notice on Facebook:
Titus Patricks:
Useless municipality. South Africa is poor because of the municipalities.
Robert Hanekom:
Ah, nice to blame the weather for a change, eh? Rather use the time you spent making this nice notice to properly plan road maintenance.
Zozo Sun:
Kujabula lanatfola le tender chomie to chomie. Futsek! Patient yekunuka kunini decade of road fixing. (Translation: Happy are those who get these tenders between friends. Voertsek! We are tired of being patient for decades waiting for these roads to be repaired
Dries Strydom:
These roads have been in a bad condition for the past 30 years. Wake up.
