Department targets potholes

MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison in the province, Peggy Nkonyeni yesterday officially launched Operation Vala’mapotholes, which is aimed at reconstructing and fixing damaged road infrastructure following the recent floods.

Nkonyeni launched the programme in KwaMakhutha in the eThekwini Municipality. She tabled her department’s R12 billion budget vote last Thursday.

According to the department, the initiative, which will be rolled out throughout the province, is aimed at eradicating potholes and rehabilitating and maintaining road infrastructure.

The pothole patching teams will focus on pothole repair, crack sealing and rut repair.

“The long-term goal of this programme is to ensure that potholes are fixed within 24 hours and to have emergency teams in all local municipalities to speedily attend to potholes,” said the department in a statement.

In her budget speech, Nkonyeni said as it stands, over 1 369 projects will need to be repaired at an estimated value of R5.6bn.

“The repairs will be done in partnership with Sanral as the implementing agency and municipalities,” she said.

Last month, The Mercury reported that the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) was concerned that the poor conditions of some roads and general infrastructure is stifling economic growth and poses a threat to food security.

Some of the problem roads identified by Kwanalu include the Bushman’s Nek Road (Underberg), Loteni Road (Himeville), Nottingham Road (Mooi River), R612 (Donnybrook) and Hella Hella Road (Richmond/Ixopo).

Kwanalu said the results from a survey conducted in March, in which participants were asked to rank the road conditions in their districts, showed that 76% of survey respondents reported poor conditions, listing life-threatening potholes, uneven road surfaces, a lack of gravel on road shoulders, alien species invasions along roads and overgrown vegetation blocking the line of vision as their major areas of concern.