Municipalities go bananas with Glenhills pothole repairs after viral post highlights roads plight

Fed-up over poor service delivery?

Blocking off roads or toyi-toying may not be the answer. 

The power of print and social media was seen at work last week when, after months of waiting for the municipality to fix the potholes in his neighbourhood in KwaDukuza, Rishi Pooran took matters in his own hands. 

The Glenhills resident got creative and resorted to planting banana trees in the huge potholes that had developed in the middle of the busy street near his home and challenged others to follow suit in their neighbourhoods to draw attention to the poor state of roads. 

“Whenever you see a pothole plant a tree, preferably a banana tree as our town is now becoming a banana republic,” said Pooran.

He said the street had been plagued with water leaks which had contributed to the damaged road surface.

ALSO READ: Watch: Fed-up with poor roads, KwaDukuza man plants banana trees in potholes

Soon after his Facebook post and an article in last week’s Courier, the matter received the attention he was hoping for. 

Two days later the iLembe district mayor, chief financial officer and councillor, accompanied by a technical team, arrived in Glenhills to inspect the leaks.

A few hours later, plumbers were on site with machinery digging up the road and fixing the water pipes.

Pooran said there were two municipalities that serviced the Glenhills area.

“The iLembe Municipality is in charge of fixing the water pipes, while the KwaDakuza Municipality is in charge of road maintenance.”

Pooran, a member of the Glenhills and District Civic Association and a resident for 29 years, said he was surprised at the coverage his post attracted and attributed the swift action of the officials to the power of the media. 

“Only after the issue was exposed through the media did the municipalities act,” he said.