Residents do not need to worry about the appalling state of local roads – there is a plan in place to fix them.

This was the message from the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport (DRT) when approached about the nasty state of local access roads to Makhado (Louis Trichardt). Especially the Madombidzha road has become an increasing threat to hundreds of commuters who use the road daily to get to and from work. The state of this road has already claimed the life of one resident during 2013.

Edwin Mudau was killed in a head-on collision on 5 September last year, when driving along the Madombidzha road. Mudau’s vehicle was hit by another vehicle that apparently swerved to avoid a pothole in the road. Since then, the road as gone from bad to worse and many residents fear for their lives.

Local farmers living alongside the road take turns with some local taxi associations to fill up some of the bigger potholes that can be found from Makhado (Louis Trichardt) right up to Madombidzha itself. 

In the meantime, more and more local motorists have turned to the newspaper to voice their concerns. In addition to putting questions to the DRT about the state of the Madombidzha road, the newspaper also followed up on the condition of the Pontdrift road.

During March this year, Mr Jan Kleynhans of Mike’s Kitchen in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) and the manager of the restaurant, Ms Christina Masekwo, narrowly escaped death while driving on this road. As a result of the lack of warning signs on the road, they only realised in the nick of time that a big chunk of road was missing. A bridge across the road had washed away during the flood in January 2013, and has still not been repaired. 

The Zoutpansberger approached the DRT for comment at the beginning of April. In the case of the Pontdrift road, a photograph of the missing bridge accompanied an email to the DRT.

After a week, DRT spokesperson Mr Jimmy Machaka telephonically confirmed that a plan is in place to fix the bridge on the Pontdrift road. He pointed out that this road is the responsibility of the Roads Agency of Limpopo (RAL), and that they are responsible to obtain contractors to repair the bridge. Further questions were ignored.

Weekly follow-up calls were made to determine whether the DRT is aware of the dangerous state of the Madombidzha road. It was only at the end of April that Machaka confirmed telephonically that he was able to determine that an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has been authorized for the Madombidzha road. “That means that the potholes will get fixed and that they [the contractors] will cut the grass,” he said.  Asked when the effects of this programme will be noticeable to motorists, Machaka replied that it would be soon and promised to provide his response in writing. He then ended the call.