Many Newcastle residents have not been shy in expressing their frustrations on social media, about the state of roads in their areas. One resident, Denise Manning said potholes had become a nightmare in her neighbourhood:

“If you travel from Coronation Road to Drakensberg School, the potholes are terrible. It’s as if no one in our municipality cares anymore. The potholes are big and and can fit between the two wheels of a car. I’m sure if we get more rain storms, it will get worse and further causing accidents. People dropping off their children at the school drive on this road everyday. Not only that, children could get hurt too.”

Another concerned resident, Lindokuhle Buthelezi stated:

“This is rather embarrassing. The local municipality should be ashamed. We are watching our town go down the drain day by day. The sad part is that nothing can be done about it. I use Marconi Drive every day to get to work. I’ve had my rims and tyres damaged four times already because of the massive pothole there. Newcastle is in a crisis and voters are turning a blind eye. We need to wake up and smell the coffee.”

Meanwhile, the Newcastle Municipality has also been very vocal in noting it was aware of the situation. The municipality stated it was ‘racing against time’ to rectify the problems faced by motorists utilising local roads.

Head of Communications at the municipality, Mlungisi Khumalo said plans have begun to make sure roads are being fixed:

“We are currently in the process of resurfacing roads, sealing potholes and reconstructing a number of roads within our municipality. The current ongoing campaign of making potholes a thing of the past, is in full swing. The project was reignited last year when Mayor, Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba took on his position. His first priority, which was also highlighted during his budget roadshows, was to fix damaged roads. Teams have been dispatched to various parts of the municipality in a bid to prevent further damage of vehicles. We’ve identified pothole hotspots needing urgent intervention and units are busy fixing them.”

Khumalo has urged residents to be patient during this process, as the process could take longer to reach some areas due to ‘numerous roads needing immediate attention’.

“We’ve set a time frame for accomplishing this objective, and we are confident we will reach our target. We call upon motorists to drive with caution in the interim, while we deal with the issue of potholes. We also urge motorists and residents to work with us, especially as some roads might be closed due to road works or sealing of potholes.”

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