After months of complaints from residents of the west, on Wednesday the Tshwane metro began repairing the numerous potholes in the area.
The maintenance work is long overdue, especially considering the recent heavy rains that resulted in considerable damage to the roads. According to the Pretoria West Sector 1 chairperson, Eric Cordier, their complaints had fallen on deaf ears until this week. “The pothole in Luttig Street is so big over both lanes that drivers have to drive on the pavement in an effort to avoid damage to their vehicles.”
This has become dangerous for pedestrians, who have to share the sidewalk with vehicles. When Rekord spoke to one of the pedestrians, she said that she was recently almost hit by a car. “The driver saw the pothole too late. When he realised it was a pothole, he quickly swerved to the side of the road and almost hit me,” Mariam Maraba said.
The pothole is also a big inconvenience for motorists, as drivers have to give each other right of way – there is only one side they can use to avoid the pothole. “This pothole is going to damage someone’s vehicle if it is not quickly attended to,” motorist Tebogo Fuma said. Residents also mentioned that between DF Malan Road, Retief and Christoffel streets, at the crossing of Vom Hagen and Rebecca streets, Roger Dyason and Quagga streets and Souter and Rebecca streets there were bad potholes.
The other problem is the state of the road leading to the military training college, which has had terrible potholes since early last year. “The whole road consists of potholes that stretch over the road as from where you turn from Weskoppies towards the various defence force institutions up until where you join Potgieter Street at the army and air force headquarters,” Koos Goosen, who works at the army headquarters, said.
He explained that two weeks ago, he was involved in an accident in the road due to a vehicle that swerved off the road to avoid the potholes. “Both state and private vehicles get damaged due to the state of the road,” Goosen indicated.
The Tshwane metro was unavailable for comment regarding who was responsible for the maintenance of the road at the defence force institution at the time of going to print.
