Farmers jump in to fix damaged Tongaat-Ballito R102 road

Farmers and community members repaired the flood-damaged R102 between Tongaat and Ballito in as little as four days, one day before it would have been a full two months since the road was closed.

Stranded commuters have had to add to their already stretched travel expenses with fuel costs at a record high, often getting stuck in standstill traffic navigating their way to work and home.

The R102 was reopened on Friday last week, but not before a truck, police van and a car crashed into the huge crater-like gap left in the road since it collapsed during the April floods.

Meanwhile, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala on Sunday said the province needs to access more than R17-billion in relief funding from national government following April and May’s devastating floods.

He said R5.157-billion would be allocated to provincial relief efforts, while R12.656-billion would go to sector and municipal projects. Damages relating to transport infrastructure amounted to R6-billion and included the M4 and R102.

“There are no outstanding applications from province, either for short-term humanitarian support or long-term reconstruction,” Zikalala said. The applications were submitted through the National Disaster Management Centre on May 9 and 15

Additional requests for funding had to be made to national government as the previous R1-billion already set aside was intended for short-term humanitarian efforts.

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