No end in sight to pothole plague

WHILE R23 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 budget for the resealing and paving of roads in Kimberley, residents have questioned the Sol Plaatje Municipality’s commitment to maintaining local roads with the proliferation of potholes making some roads impassable.

The city’s executive mayor, Mangaliso Matika, said during the tabling of the budget that R23 million of MIG funds will be invested in resealing and paving of roads in various wards in the city.

“Roads are very important for economic reasons, they also bring life, save life and ensure the accessibility of our communities.”

According to the draft budget, the focus for the resealing and paving of roads in the new financial year will be in Galeshewe.

In his mid-term budget speech in January this year, Matika acknowledged that roads were critical in attracting investments into the city, pointing out that the municipality had spent approximately R140 million on refurbishing and upgrading roads in the city, as well as upgrading major intersections with industrial interlocking bricks to avoid shifting of the road surface as a result of heat and heavy vehicles at turning points.

He added that on a monthly basis the local authority had also fixed potholes, covering a road surface of about 13 167m².

Residents, however, are unconvinced, pointing out that several roads are so full of potholes that they are almost impassable.

A Northview resident lashed out at the municipality yesterday, stating that despite efforts to get the municipality to fix the roads in the suburb, residents were forced to dodge the massive holes that littered the streets.

“The corner of Norma and Estelle streets is particularly bad – in fact the entire area is full of potholes,” she said.

According to the municipality’s annual report, excessive brittleness and premature ageing are clearly visible on the city’s tarred roads due to extreme weather conditions and insufficient preventative maintenance over the years.

A recent report on the status quo of roads in the city indicates that while 30 EPWP workers are being used from the Mayoral Cleaning Project to open and patch potholes during an accelerated maintenance plan, scheduled to run from November to April, the municipality is forced to hire trucks as the local authority does not have sufficient vehicles.

The four rollers and two skit steer machines used in the patching are also hired as the municipality does not have these vehicles.

No work was undertaken in January as the plant was closed and there was no bitumen.