Motorists demand that the damaged road at the traffic circle on Portia Shabangu Drive, leading towards the Kruger National Park (KNP), be treated as a matter of urgency as it poses a danger to road users.

The road was damaged by underground water and has been in bad shape since August 2024.

The City of Mbombela (CoM), Sanral and the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT) are blaming each other for not dealing with the problem and for who is responsible for fixing it.

However, that section of the road is maintained by the CoM and the people who are using the road are urging the municipality to take responsibility and make sure that it is repaired.

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A motorist, Pieter Koekmoer, said the road has become more dangerous because now motorists are driving into oncoming traffic to avoid the damaged part.

“The matter was reported to the municipality many times, but it was not attended to. The officials from the CoM are using the road on a daily basis, but they are ignoring it. Now cars need to drive over the circle because the damaged side is impossible to drive on even if you are using a big car. They are waiting for a serious accident to happen so they can act on it.”

A tour guide in the area, Rufus Makwela, said, “It is very disappointing to transport tourists on that road because we are forced to drive over the circle or use the oncoming lane.

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The worst part is that the circle is a few metres away from CoM’s regional offices and the Lowveld Mall. I feel sorry for law-abiding drivers who are not familiar with the road; their cars will get damaged. This will punish local businesses because tourists will not want to visit again,” he said.

In an attempt to alleviate the problems, Ken Robertson, a COM councillor, asked the municipality repair the traffic circle potholes.

“A senior manager of roads within the CoM indicated that this section of road is now the responsibility of Sanral. I contacted both provincial Sanral and the DPWRT to have the circle repaired as soon as possible, but both said that it is in fact the COM’s responsibility to repair the roads within the urban and CBD areas,” he said.

Robertson said this lack of knowledge wasted precious time and had these government institutions been clear of their areas of responsibility, the task to resolve the problems would have been sorted out earlier.

The CoM spokesperson Joseph Ngala was not available for comment as he is on leave.