FS farmers pay millions out of their pockets for road repairs

Farmers in the Free State are spending millions of rands of their own money to repair provincial and municipal roads neglected by the government. 

This was revealed in a survey conducted among Free State Agriculture (FSA) members, which showed how R6 million has been spent on repairs promised by the government this year alone. 

FSA president Francois Wilken said in a statement on Tuesday this not only affects labourers travelling to work and products being delivered, but also becomes a safety risk for motorists. 

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He also said the R6 million did not factor in opportunity costs, productive time losses, equipment wear and tear or vehicle repairs.

“The R6 million figure is far below the actual cost incurred. A lot of work has been done on roads by farmers that has not even been reported,” Wilken said. 

Wilken said the situation was particularly dire in the north east Free State, especially in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district, with a group of five farmers having to spend more than R1 million to keep roads “passable”. 

If these repairs were not done, Wilken said they would not be able to deliver their grain, horticulture and livestock products to markets, further throttling them financially. 

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The FSA has sent letters to the relevant MECs and ministers, but has not received a response so far. it said. 

The organisation is now gearing up to take legal action in order to ensure that repairs to roads are carried out. 

“Free State Agriculture is waiting for the outcome of the legal opinion requested on our rights in terms of service delivery on roads and will fully pursue the matter from there.”