TSHITALE – After following all the necessary channels in vain, members of the Tshitale Taxi Association decided to go public and express their deep concern about the bad road conditions in their area, which they claim are damaging their vehicles.

In a letter to the Provincial Department of Public Works, dated October 4, 2004, the association indicated that they have tried and managed to follow all the possible channels for their roads to be graded starting from the local structures such as traditional leaders, Makhado Municipality, the local Department of Public Works and even to the Provincial Department, but were always given empty promises. “We are tired of being driven from pillar to post. It is therefore in this context that we have decided to give your Department a last chance to prove how far they are committed to Vhathu Phanda and Tirisano. Failure of which, we shall turn the Depart-ment (Public Works) offices into a Mickey Mouse house,” reads part of the letter in possession of Mirror.

According to Mr Mawela Johannes Tshamano, chairperson of the taxi association, attempts to meet with the responsible office at the Makhado Municipality to brief them on the bad conditions of the roads didn’t work out as they were referred to the Department of Public Works at Hlanganani. He said that the Hlanganani Public Works office representatives, Mr Ngobeni and Mr Maluleke, inspected the Mbhokota, Mashamba, Mukondeni, Lambani, Mulima, Muila, Nthabalala, Manyima, Ramaru and Masethe roads in April last year. The recommendations taken by the two departmental representatives were that water pipes would be installed where necessary, bridges would be erected where identified and certain parts of the roads would be gravelled,” he said.

Tshamano claims that they were promised feedback within two weeks and, while still waiting, they were telephonically informed that other people from the Department would come to make further inspections of the roads, but that never happened. “Realising that the conditions of the roads were becoming worse and worse, a senior magistrate at Tshitale, Mr NM Munyai, wrote a letter to the Limpopo Road Agency and they responded in a letter, dated June 28, 2004, that the matter was being attended to, yet nothing has been done.

Mirror also learnt that, on August 17, last year, the mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr RS Nkuzana, accompanied the district mayor, Cllr Sam Moeti, to Nthabalala village with the view to resolve the matter. During the gathering with residents, the district mayor took it upon himself that he would make some follow-ups of which the report would be received within two weeks, but the taxi association chairperson has not received the report yet.