Letter: Wasting money on patching

Ward 22 DA branch deputy chair Eugène Breukelman writes:

The state of the roads in Ballito and surrounds are abysmal!

Navigating potholes has become part of the daily commute for most residents and KDM simply does not seem to have a plan to address this growing concern.

The problem has become so bad that some residents have taken it upon themselves to carry out repairs in the area, while others including our DA ward 22 members have started spray-painting the potholes to make them more visible.

While these efforts are commendable, they should not be necessary.

The physical and financial risks that the state of our roads poses to both residents and visitors alike do not seem to concern KDM at all.

This is evident in the unacceptably long time it takes for them to react when potholes are reported to them.

Sadly when they do eventually respond, the response is equivalent to sticking a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound, it masks the problem but does not fix it.

A large number of our roads require complete rehabilitation and continuing to waste money on patch jobs just pushes the bucket further down the road.

I believe the time has now come for residents and community organizations to form a united front in demanding that KDM urgently tend to our roads!

Let us work together and start the process by emailing and writing the relevant people at KDM with our complaints and cc’ing ward 22 councilor Privi Makhan.

For road complaints email: FisokuhleM@kwadukuza.gov.za; MelanP@kwadukuza.gov.za; and copy to privi.m@gmail.com.