Between a road and a hard place

Chartwell resident Johan Weber explained that while the bad state of the roads had always been a problem, it was the heavy rains on 3 February that caused the roads to become impassable.

Gary Purdon, senior proxy for Zulu Nyala Lodge, a hotel and conference facility in the area, explained that the heavily-potholed 3rd Road had cost him a substantial amount of money.

“We had an entire conference group cancel their booking because they refused to drive on the road to the lodge,” Purdon said.

Watercombe Road is in an even worse state. Weber pointed out exposed water pipes and live wires in the middle of the road. “These roads have been graded so many times that there is no material left, leaving these pipes and wires uncovered,” he said.

Community members, who were fed-up with the state of the roads, decided to fill in the potholes themselves – however they have since been told by the roads agency that this action was illegal.

Ward 96 councillor Matome Mafokwane explained that he did not stop the residents from taking matters into their own hands because the state of the roads was dire. “As a councillor I would never put residents’ lives at risk. Two weeks is a long time for a car to be dodging potholes,” he said.

Bertha Peters-Scheepers, operations manager of marketing and communications for the roads agency, said that residents are not permitted to fix potholes as the repairing of roads is a specialist field which could endanger the safety of residents.

Peters-Scheepers added that now that the matter has been brought to their attention, the roads agency would endeavour to fix all potholes on 3rd Road within three days. Roads agency officials who inspected the area did not see the exposed wires on Watercombe Road but have asked residents to submit photos to the agency.

Details: hotline@jra.org.za