Transport Minister Fikile “Mr Fix It” Mbalula has promised to finally repair Mzansi’s potholes through the Operation Valazonke that was launched on Monday.
“This campaign will change the face of our municipal and provincial roads from pothole-riddled to an acceptable state of repair,” said Mbalula, noting that the programme will also create jobs and improve the country’s road infrastructure.
Mbalula said the programme will be replicated across the country with premiers and MECs leading the campaign, noting that the intervention will be monitored and assessed over the next six month.
“When I undertook an inspection of the N12 national road in Wolmaransstad in the North West earlier this year, as a follow-up on the Presidential Imbizo held in March, I was made aware of the severity of the pothole problem in the province,” he said.
“This is the reality of many communities in all provinces. The bad roads, caused mainly by potholes, are one of the major hindrances to economic growth. Our national policy on road infrastructure is anchored on the National Development Plan which enjoins us to invest in a strong network of economic infrastructure designed to support the country’s medium- and long-term objectives if we are to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth by 2030.”
He said achieving this vision requires targeted development of transport as one of the sectors that makes up the network industries.
“Government’s infrastructure development plan is an important building block in revitalising South Africa’s economy and job creation. This will, in turn, exponentially improve our efforts to ensure sustainable livelihoods for many of our people.
“We are therefore collectively enjoined to ensure that the state of repair of our road network is in an acceptable condition across spheres of government.”
He said addressing the maintenance challenges and backlog of the road network
starts with putting in place measures that will halt the deterioration of roads.
“Attending to potholes as soon as possible after they occur is the most effective way to arrest this decline. We have therefore engaged extensively with other spheres of government on the implementation of a campaign that will ensure a singular focus on the pothole challenge.
“Cabinet has equally endorsed this campaign, which brings our collective capacity to tackle potholes in our municipalities and provinces.”
He added that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) will be the implementing agency for the campaign. “Potholes have been tormenting our people for many years with a number of municipalities struggling to address this challenge due to capacity issues. The majority of these potholes are found on municipal and provincial roads.
“In the main, our national roads remain pothole-free, partly because of Sanral’s proactive approach to fixing potholes. Sanral has a policy of fixing any reported potholes within 48 hours. While national roads are overwhelmingly in a pristine condition, we recognise that provincial and municipal roads require a decisive strategy and active support to augment capacity gaps.”
He also appealed to motorists to drive safely and added that fixing the potholes is an enormous task that will take time. He further urged the public to download the pothole reporting app where they can upload pictures and provide real-time location of the road on an interactive map.
The app will also provide status updates on issues raised using a pothole ticketing system.
“The information then gets assigned to the relevant authority, depending on where the road is, and the maintenance depot responsible for that road attends to fixing the pothole.”
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Somaya Stockenstroom
