Motorists on the Branboontjies road between Giyani and Modjadjiskloof in Limpopo say the potholed road is adversely affecting their livelihoods. The section of road connecting Muketi and Majadiskloof and Muketi and Giani passes through several commercial areas that include farms, a school and factories.
Auto enthusiasts say the business community repeatedly patched the potholes, but the patches soon wore off.
Pupils from Platland Primary School go to school on a farm between Mafale and Majadjiskloof. They commute to work daily on a potholed road from their homes in Makeka. Bus driver Abel Sithole says the road conditions make his job difficult.
“I ferry school children from Muketi to Platland Primary School on a daily basis. These potholes make my work difficult, sometimes the bus breaks down because of them. I hope the government can fix this road.”
Sithole says his employer often has to pay large sums of money to fix the bus due to damage caused by potholes.
“When a bus breaks down, it is quite expensive to repair it. When there is a breakdown, you often have to ask the children for a ride because their parents don’t want them to miss school, it’s a very bad situation.”
Other motorists, Francois Marais and Samuel Kubai, say that the tar on the road needs to be completely removed and redone, as the patches are no longer effective.
“Well, I think the government could do more, they could come up with a plan to remove the asphalt road between the pits. 2. They fill up the pits, but there is no difference, and the situation remains the same.”
A spokesman for the Limpopo Public Works Department, Witness Tiwa, says they have allocated more than 100 million rand to patch potholes on the roads.
“We have allocated 135 million rand to ensure we do at least 12% of our road network, we are about 400 million rand short of what we need to keep our road network pothole free and Sanral is also stepping in to ensure that they are rehabilitating roads that have lost their useful life, they have allocated 800 million rand for these roads.’
Meanwhile, residents remain hopeful that the current shortfall of more than 400 million rand needed to patch all the potholes in the province will be covered to ensure Limpopo is pothole free.
