Swapping stilettos for those working boots

In hour of Madiba, Tikana patched potholes

Transport, Safety and Liaison MEC, Weziwe Tikana and her management team swapped their usual formal wear for overalls, rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty – fixing potholes on the Shawbury road outside Qumbu.

Inspired by the legendary Madiba and in line with the Thuma Mina campaign, Tikana and a highly trained technical staff team spent a whole day on this stretch of road with only one aim, “to make the road safe and accessible”, she said.

The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces that battles with potholes and the MEC has vowed to work tirelessly to patch the potholes and ensure safer access to roads.

Lending a hand were 15 Engineering final-year students, from the King Sabata Dalindyebo TVET College, who got an opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge into practice as they took part in preparing the road for the repair.

Sizwe Valelo, a 25-year-old building and construction student, was among those and he expressed gratitude for the exposure and opportunity to contribute to the community.

“After today’s session, I think I’m going to focus mostly on road construction, I find it more interesting. I learnt to mix the tar, how to operate the powerful machines and to prevent the penetration of water in the tar,” said Sizwe.

Shawbury provided a launching pad for what MEC Tikana said would be a vigorous programme of patching potholes across the province.

A team of technicians fixing potholes is set to be a common sight as part of departments Thuma Mina campaign.

She said this is one of many government interventions to bring relief to road-users and restore dignity through a descent road network for communities.

“Through this programme and true Mandela style we managed to contribute not only to the community of Shawbury but also in enriching the education of the 15 students who joined us,” said Tikana.

The visit to Qumbu comes a few days after the MEC launched a R100-million worth of new plant machinery, which would assist district offices fix local roads.

It was at the launch of the plant in Queenstown where Tikana also announced a plan to pave instead of regravelling, to help deal with the rising costs of maintaining the provincial and municipal roads network.

Currently, she said, taxpayers pay between R900,000 and R1million to resurface a kilometre stretch of gravel road.

But even then, when heavy rains fall, the road gets washed away.

The MEC said the department will introduce paving, because “not only does it cost much less, but local suppliers of raw material like sand also stand to benefit.

“I don't want to mention the hundreds of jobs which will be created at local level when we