Budget does not allow for agricultural road upgrades

Roads in Benoni AH, Jatniel, Marister, Rynfield, Sesfontein and Lilyvale have become every motorist’s worst nightmare, with many residents claiming the terrain has become difficult to traverse, even in a 4 x 4 vehicle.

According to the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, the metro’s agricultural road infrastructure consists of 9 903km of road of which 1 658km are still considered traditional gravel roads.

In cases of gravel roads, stormwater drainage is also absent, thus causing the roads to become waterlogged or washed away, resulting in large potholes and trenches.

With the deteriorating roads now carrying higher traffic volumes than before, residents are calling on the metro to rehabilitate the road infrastructure and move towards ensuring all agricultural roads are adequately tarred and have drainage systems in place.

“Many of our roads are now being used as throughways by motorists trying to avoid traffic congestion on the major roads,” said Alan Mallinick, a resident of Marister.

“In some cases, we are seeing interlink trucks taking shortcuts through our area. This not only causes further damage to the roads, but where we as a community have attempted to fill potholes, these heavy vehicles just tear up the surface, resulting in more damage.”

Mallinick said the problem facing agricultural residents is multifaceted.

“By-laws in terms of road usage are not being implemented. Our concerns are not being heard. Lastly, a community that has grown apathetic to the problem,” said Mallinick.

In a statement received from the metro, Dlamini explained gravel roads that form part of the agricultural roads system has been earmarked to be tarred and have drainage installed.

“The CoE wants to eradicate most of the formal gravel roads; however, funding remains a challenge,” said Dlamini.

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“To tar the outstanding roads, we estimate it would cost in the region R13-billion.

“The Pavement Management System is tasked with keeping the roads in good drivable condition and includes a preventive maintenance programme. Routine maintenance is done as the need arise, but maintenance demands exceed our resources for an adequate response.”

Mallinick contends that the only way to solve this ongoing problem is to allow agricultural residents to decentralise their rates and taxes from the metro.

“If our contributions were paid into a central account that is managed and adjudicated, we could become self-sufficient in terms of service delivery,” he said.

“Our money will be used to improve our area. This would enable us to apply our resources for the betterment of the entire community.”

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