MBOMBELA – Motorists throughout the province are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of potholes on the roads. Especially taxi drivers raised their concerns about the condition of roads and their lack of maintenance.
Roads in most districts in the province are riddled with potholes, compromising the safety of road users.
The big question that can be asked is: Is the construction of roads compromised?
A construction company owner who chose to comment on condition of anonymity, said the only solution to the problem was for government to first deal with corruption.
“All service delivery problems in the country boils down to corruption. When a service provider is given a tender to provide certain services, everyone in the department demands a cut, even the person responsible for releasing a payment wants ‘cold drink’ in order to speed up the payment process.”
Last week during the sod-turning ceremony for the rehabilitation of the R538 between Hazyview and White River, MEC for public works, roads and transport said her department was going to be strict about the quality of work during the rehabilitation process.
“I am not going to tolerate bad quality because we are spending a lot of money to ensure that motorists travel with ease,” she said.
The road, notorious for damaging cars over the past few years, due to the many deep potholes will under go rehabilitation estimated at R149 million rand but that does not mean the end of travel woes for motorists.
Many major roads in the province including the road connecting Acornhoek and Thulamahashe were, according to opposition party,COPE, covered with soil during the president Mr Jacob Zuma’s visit Women’s Day last year.
“Most roads in the province have huge potholes and communities are left with no option but to fill these holes with sand to make them a bit more user friendly,” said COPE’s Mr Riot Hlatshwayo.
