MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – A R6,1 million road upgrading project is under investigation to determine why the road “failed” only one month after being opened.

Speaking of the road between Makhado (Louis Trichardt) and Madombidzha, the CEO of Road Agency Limpopo (RAL), Mr Bohani Shibambu, said: “The road failed within a month. We told the consultant and contractor to go back on site to find the problem. We told them to investigate the quality of the material and verify it in the laboratory.”

A major problem from the road users’ point of view is the condition of the road surface. Mr Moses Makakavhule, the owner of Phadziri Bus Services said that almost 30 of his buses use the road daily.

“The condition of the new road is very bad. Immediately from the cemetery up until the second bridge is the new road, and from the second bridge onwards is the old road. If I compare the smoothness of the new and old road, the old one is better.”

Mr Paul Viljoen counted 19 potholes one month after the road had been opened to users. Mr Viljoen, who is a daily user of the road, found the 19 potholes in the 5 km from Palm Motors to the Rietvlei Smallholdings.

“The potholes appeared after the first light rain,” Mr Viljoen said.

The coming rainy season is also a major concern to Mr Tobias Fourie from Limpopo Dairies whose trucks and vehicles use the road every day. Mr Fourie said that if the condition of the new road was that bad that it disintegrated after the first rainfall, the condition could even be disastrous after heavy rains.

“What we want to know is when this road will be finally completed?” asked Mr Fourie. Limpopo Dairies have suffered losses since the commencement of the rehabilitation of the road.

“From January until April, the trucks had to travel on a daily basis on various gravel roads, which damaged their chassis. The alternative grated route was extremely poor. At times, the trucks had to use a 20km detour on the Ledig road. I feel the new road might be in a worse condition than it was before,” said Mr Fourie.

Mr Makakavhule from Phadziri said that, due to the condition of the road, the lifetime of his buses was reduced by half. He consulted with the Taxi Association around Sinthumule/Kutama, who is also displeased with the situation.

Mr Even Barnard from Palm Motors said that the construction of the road was handled with great clumsiness. Palm Motors suffered huge turnover losses due to the prolonged construction of the road.

Many business and vehicle owners suffered direct financial losses as a result of the seven-month-long construction of the road, which is still not up to standard.

RAL’s Mr Shibambu said that people will suffer inconvenience while a road is under construction.

“But that is nothing compared to a gravel road. Buses break even more on a dirt road. A tarred road is an improvement and for quality of life, like a tarred road, there is a cost. Someone must pay for it,” Mr Shibambu said. That someone is the tax payer.

Mr Shibambu said that the RAL have projects of R600 million a year running and that it does not happen very often that a road collapses like the Modombidzha road. He said that there is no truth in the speculations that the problems with the road had anything to do with black empowerment companies. The tender was awarded to IPOPO who subcontracted it to Thiko Civils.

“The consulting engineers are Africon. Both Thiko and Africon are white-owned companies. People are just suspicious,” he said.

A spokesperson of Africon said this week that the results of the investigation will be submitted to the client (RAL) on August 24 and a calculated guess is that the road could finally be completed by the end of October.