Motorists are up in arms over inoperative traffic lights
MBOMBELA - Motorists are demanding that the traffic and streets lights at the intersection between Dr Enos Mabuza and Johanna drives should be repaired immediately.
The City of Mbombela (CoM) spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, hopes that both will be energised within a month.
The traffic lights have not functioned since the beginning of the upgrade on Dr Enos Mabuza, although the road is already 90% completed. This poses a grave danger to motorists.
Residents say the stop at the uphill, whose traffic lights are out of order, is being treated as a four-way stop, which is an ideal opportunity for criminals to attack motorists who stop or slow down.
They also claim that they have engaged with the CoM to fix the lights, but that nothing has happened so far. The municipality is apparently also not even communicating with the residents regarding the situation.
One of the residents, Jaco van der Walt, said the CoM is waiting for a serious accident to happen before it acts. “Since the construction to upgrade the road was completed, the traffic lights have still not been functioning, and we are not even sure if the municipality, who is supposed to repair it, or the construction company, still needs to come back and fix it. But all we know is that they need to do something urgently,” he said.
Sunnette Steward alleged that she has escaped more than two accidents at the same intersections with cars coming downhill at high speed and failing to stop at the broken lights, and considering it a four-way stop.
“I was missed by a bakkie one morning that was speeding. I arrived first at the intersections, but as I drove in to turn to the right, the driver of the other car did not stop. Even though I was inside the turn already, I had to swerve my car to the pavement to avoid being hit.
The worst part was that I had my kids in the car.” She added that some motorists would not be so lucky, and said the authorities need to something about it.
Ngala said the traffic lights have been affected by the widening of Dr Enos Mabuza. A variation order was requested from the council in order to complete the project, including the traffic lights and street lights.
“The request was not granted pending an investigation as directed by council for the lack of additional funds. The city manager is engaging with the leadership to find a solution to this challenge. We hope that both the traffic and street lights will be energised within a month,” he said.
The traffic lights have not functioned since the beginning of the upgrade, although the road is already 90% completed