Mmatau residents forced to pack up or be trapped when it rains

Many residents of Mmatau village in North West who commute to the urban centres for work and schooling have to leave their area early when it rains because if they stay, they will be trapped in the village.

“That’s our daily struggle, every time it rains, when you’re home, you have to pack and go,” villager Tsholofelo Kgobane said, describing the state of the main road that cuts through the village to the rest of North West province.

The 43-year-old says the road has been in a terrible state since her childhood and has not seen any substantial improvement.

ALSO READ: Easter road fatalities down, but pedestrian deaths still a major concern

Road D534 is a notorious stretch of rural gravel road that nobody dares to travel on during a rainy day using a small car because its potholes have turned into dongas.

Mmatau road needs fixing

Mmatau village, situated outside Madikwe town, is home to Kgobane, who commutes to Johannesburg regularly to work. For Kgobane and other commuters, the 5km road is a difficult and frustrating journey. Every time she has to go home to Mmatau, she prays that it does not rain because she won’t be able to return to work due to the terrible road.

“As someone who works in Johannesburg, when I see that it’s going to rain, I just pack my bags and leave.

“When it’s raining, nobody goes to work; children can’t go to school because their teachers can’t travel to work. After all, the road is not accessible, and kids who go to school in Madikwe also have to stay at home as there is no transport,” Kgobane said.

ALSO READ: Easter road fatalities and accidents on the decline, says Creecy

Another resident, Bruce Motlhoki, called it a road of hell.

“For as long as I stayed in Mmatau – 45 years – the D534 gravel road has been a thorn in the side of the residents. Though during the era of Bophuthatswana [homeland)] government, it was maintained and graded on regular basis, but after 1994 the road was forgotten.

“Dams have built up on the gravel road,” Motlhoki said.

People from Mmatau, Manamela, Siga, Voordonker, Khayakhulu, Montsana, Los Mei Cherry, Nkaipaya, and other villages use the road to access government facilities in Madikwe.

This road serves as their main thoroughfare, connecting them to the main tarred road leading to Madikwe with essential public services.

READ NEXT: Tzaneen’s blame game over water crisis