Tourism is Mpumalanga’s major potential job creator and roads that connect visitors to desired sites need maintenance.
The new provincial MEC for public works, roads and transport, Mohita Latchminarain, was called upon to prioritise rehabilitation of all roads which lead to major tourist destination sites.
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Potholes are a deterrent for tourists wanting to visit the province, said the DA’s Bosman Grobler in a statement. Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane mentioned in the State of the Province Address that tourist destinations in Mpumalanga would be upgraded, however, what was not mentioned was how they planned to deal with issues of the severely dilapidated roads that feed the sites.
“Provincial government is advised to devise strategies aimed at growing the economy provincially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Grobler said. “The roads are in need of attention and local government has to do something, because these roads refl ect what our society is like to visitors,” said Skhumbuzo Buda, a self-employed tour operator who works along the Pilgrim’s Rest route.
“Mpumalanga’s tourism sector has been affected badly by the Covid-19 pandemic and the state of roads is becoming a deterrent for visiting tourists. Roads leading to prominent tourist destination sites have been riddled with potholes for years now.”
The owner of Matlatsi Tours in Mpumalanga, Mosidi Moarokwane, said his passengers from Europe mostly ask him if the roads had always been this bad, “and I tell them, no. It is very embarrassing and scaring away my customers. At the end of the day, it takes away my business”.
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The recent rain has exacerbated the state and condition of some of these tourist routes, as the damage to infrastructure totalled R1,3 billion. On the road to the Kruger Gate in Hazyview, deep potholes pose a threat to motorists and a portion of the road’s surface has been stripped away by the rain.
The situation is the same in Graskop and Mbombela. Mike Mncube, a tour guide working at God’s Window, also called upon Latchminarain to fi x the roads.
“People who visit these scenic sites use roads to come to us and again, we use roads to travel to our site. So you see the state of the roads will infl uence a person’s need to visit again. The MEC has to put it on top of her agenda to fi x roads that feed us visitors who come here for tourism,” Mncube said.
