The bottom line Mogale? There are none!

Residents in Krugersdorp have come forward about the state of the roads, specifically the lack of proper and clear road markings and signage, yet Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) strongly disagrees.

Recently, the Krugersdorp News received several complaints about road markings in Kenmare, Noordheuwel and Monument. As the News investigated the matter, there were several weak road markings or none at all – including lines and even signage such as stop and yield signs. Some stop signs are missing at intersections.

To add, almost every road in these areas does not have visible markings, especially the lines that divide the road.

This includes busy streets like Frederick Cooper Drive, Soutpansberg Street and Piet Retief Avenue.

The News reached out to MCLM communications officer Adrian Amod, who said the roads in Mogale City are not weakly marked. He did, however, mention dusty and rainy weather conditions and the nature of the infrastructure may have an effect.

“On the infrastructure side, although this takes time, the erosion of infrastructure in certain instances and continued rain may wash away the markings,” Amod continued.

The News further noted there are numerous missing stop signs, especially in Noordheuwel. The intersection of Magaliesberg and Blouberg Street has three missing stop signs. This is one of many intersections that can lead to disastrous consequences. Resident Taryn-Lee Botha’s dog was run over because of a missing stop sign in the area.

“The stop sign on my street has been stolen and last week someone attempted to steal the entire pole out of the ground. The lack of a stop sign led a driver to run over the intersection and kill my dog,” she said.
In Krugersdorp North, numerous intersections are also missing stop signs. Earlier this year a crash occurred at the De Wet and 1st Street intersection due to missing stop signs and faded road markings on De Wet Street. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

Amod confirmed that the signs are missing due to vandalism and theft after which they get sold to scrap dealers.

“Although the municipality tries to replace these, it’s difficult to monitor the safety of the signs by our Public Safety officers due to their other critical daily responsibilities. It is, therefore, a bit of a challenge to keep up with the rate at which the signs are being vandalised and stolen. If you look at our public communications, the municipality constantly makes appeals to the community to report any vandalism and theft of municipal infrastructure as the replacements due to vandalism and theft cost the municipality millions of rands annually,” he added.

One of the less obvious effects the conditions of the roads have, is on learners and less experienced drivers, trying to learn how to navigate the road properly, as mentioned by learner driver Ruan Ladeira.

Ladeira, who obtained his learner’s license about four months ago, said the condition of the roads makes it extremely difficult to learn how to drive and abide by the laws.

“If only the municipality could paint lines, it would make it so much easier to drive. It is very dangerous and can lead to serious accidents,” he said.

His father, André Ladeira added that it is also very difficult for him to teach his son to drive and that the only solution is to hire a driving school to teach him.

“I’ve reported these issues to the municipality, and they have done nothing about it. The laws can not be enforced if the roads look like this, and we have almost been in an accident due to it,” André added.

When the News asked MCLM why the roads are not being maintained, he said that it is not correct as there is a lot of major road maintenance and resurfacing work being done on an annual basis.

“Paardekraal Road, Luipaard Street and Albertina Sisulu Road were resurfaced and maintained, then also many streets in Kagiso and other areas as well.

“Mogale City has just under 1 000km of surfaced roads that require maintenance and with many also requiring resurfacing, which is a major cost allowing the municipality to do the required work only in phases due to budget constraints,” Amod added.

“Paved roads are maintained within the annual approved Opex budget currently allocated at R5.3m as per the approved 2024/ 25 financial year allocation. However, the municipality has some budget constraints as the allocated budget is not commensurate to the required scope of annual work, while incidents of theft and vandalism for example requiring emergency repairs also affect the elasticity of an already constrained budget,” Amod concluded.