Potholes and poor road conditions in areas such as Matsulu, KaNyamazane and Pienaar will be a thing of the past.

This is according to the MEC for public works, roads and transport, Mohita Latchminarain, who responded to Lowvelder Express’ questions concerning the state of the roads within Mbombela, Nsikazi, and the province as a whole.

ALSO READ: Bad roads raise concerns

“Firstly, we would like to start by acknowledging the budget speech as presented by the MEC for finance, Vusi Mkhatshwa, and also appreciate what was allocated to our department. We are of the view that the budget allocation will be sufficient enough to get our roads in good shape during this current financial year,” said Latchminarain.

She said even though her department was still in the process of planning and looking at key and critical areas that need serious intervention, she has put her head on the block by stressing the need to get the roads repaired.

“We are still planning and consulting as to how we are going to prioritise our spending, but we mustn’t shy away from the fact that our roads are in dire need of repair. That is a given fact. We are going to concentrate all our efforts into fixing the roads and patching potholes,” she said.

“We want to also appreciate the efforts by Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane for allocating funds to us to purchase all the necessary equipment needed to patch and fix the potholes on our roads. Our teams are currently busy fixing these potholes.

ALSO READ: Continuous rainfall poses serious threat to roads

“We also need to work on a long-term solution and not only focus on the short term. Yes, the machines we have may still patch those potholes on our roads. That, we see, can still carry on for more years, however, we need to look at how we maintain our roads. There should be a clear maintenance plan going forward. We need to regularly maintain the roads that we constructed five years ago so that they don’t reach the dilapidated state you see the roads are in now.” Latchminarain stressed that they are going to focus all their resources to fix the roads.

“We acknowledge that there is a lot to be done and we dare not fail our communities. We will repair these roads,” she concluded.