Silonque residents demand a better road
The land owners in Silonque outside Phalaborwa are not pleased with the state of Silonque Road, which they use on a daily basis.
The locals claim that they have been reaching out to the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality for assistance but to no avail.
According to Willem Botha, a resident in the area, in the past seven months the road has only been maintained once and as a result small cars are struggling to navigate the road with many incurring punctures.
“What is painful is the fact that since last year, our rates have been increased by 300% and we are not getting anything for it.
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“I buy my electricity directly from Eskom, for water I pay Lepelle and we do our own refuse removal. What exactly are we paying for? asked a disgruntled Botha.
After numerous attempts to reach out for assistance, the Bothas hired a grader to get the road scraped.
After scraping it, they requested locals to contribute towards the expenses of the grader and most residents responded positively.
Botha told the Herald that he appreciates the contributions made by the other land owners as it shows unity.
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“The road is not useable, it doesn’t matter whether it is dry or wet, hence we can’t afford to wait for the day they decide to come and fix it,” he added.
A plot owner in the area who wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed Botha’s version of events and said that the road is hazardous.
“I recently got a puncture on the road and had to replace the tyres of my VW Polo,” she said.
The road used to be tar, but was reduced to a gravel road because of lack of maintenance.
Herald reached out to Councillor Jayne Williamson, who said the road is not the responsibility of the municipality, but that of the Department of Public Works.
Catherine Maluleke of the Department of Public Works promised to visit the road personally on Tuesday, 13 October. She had also committed to getting a storm water pipe (see photo below) fixed immediately, while they work on a plan to rehabilitate the road. At the time of going to press the pipe was yet to be fixed.
Herald will update readers on the story.
