The DA in the Free State has called on government to put the Maluti-A-Phofung municipality under administration due to the shocking state of its road infrastructure, among other issues.
Many roads in the area are in a deplorable state with gaping potholes and some having the tar scraped off and left exposed in what appears to be an incomplete project.
Four years ago, Sunday World reported about the poor state of roads in the area, which includes Qwaqwa but frustrated residents say nothing has changed.
“We have been in this situation of horrendous roads for many years, and this has become a reality for us to live in this state. We have to budget money for tyres and rims due to these potholes. We are not being taken seriously as the residents of Qwaqwa,” said resident Kgauta Mokgatla.
Sunday World has established that areas such as Tseki, Monontsha, Phuthaditjhaba, Bolata, Makgalaneng, Matebeleng and Dithotaneng are some of the worst affected.
Local businesswoman Ntsekiseng Moloi said she tried many times to speak to the municipality regarding the state of roads.
“We are suffering, and our businesses are also affected as it becomes difficult for our clients to access us easily due to these terrible roads.
“I am running a hardware and many of my clients use transport to collect material, and they have challenges driving on these roads with heavy stuff loaded in their vehicles. Those responsible for providing services have failed us,” she said.
Another resident Sello Mofokeng also decried the situation, pointing out that the challenges faced by Qwaqwa people will only be resolved if the municipality is placed under administration.
“The only way to resolve service delivery issues here lies with the provincial government putting the municipality under administration. We are being taken for fools by the councillors and the mayor, including those officials working there.
“These people have salaries every month, but we are forced to drive on these bad roads everyday. Clearly, they do not know what they are doing and intervention is needed.”
DA caucus leader in Maluti-A-Phofung, Alison Oates said the municipality shifts the blame to the provincial roads department each time they seek answers.
“There are packets of tar at the municipality that can be used to patch potholes but nothing is happening. We only find people on the road hustling for themselves patching potholes and accepting donations from generous motorists.
“But the tar is sitting there at the municipal premises, while there are people working for the municipality doing nothing to fix those potholes. We have been saying for years that the Maluti-A-Phofung should be put under administration but Cogta nationally and provincially are doing nothing,” said Oates.
Maluti-A-Phofung spokesperson Thabo Kessah said there is a road infrastructure handover that was made in January by former premier Mxolisi Dukwana and former MEC of roads MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae, who is now the premier.
“There’s work being carried out by both the municipality and the provincial government on a number of roads, mainly in Qwaqwa,” said Kessah.
Free State Department of Roads and Transport spokesperson Walter Macala said “the department is responsible for a total of 247,85 kilometers of the network within this area of Qwaqwa. The department has recently conducted condition assessment on approximately 90% of its network including roads within Qwaqwa. Therefore, the department is aware of the general conditions of the roads. The roads started to deteriorate over the past five years with the reality of population growth in the area. The majority of defects are attributed to leaks in water lines and malfunctioning of stormwater systems due to people having built houses in waterways and channel outlets.”
“A project plan has been drawn up and is being implemented by the contractor to deal with not only the road surface but also the water channels. Two roads in Lusaka and Dithotaneng have had their surfacing removed as part of preparing work areas for the local SMMEs because these roads shall be paved by interlocking bricks done by them.”
