Matsafeni’s dilapidated road infrastructure remains a priority
The recent storms have worsened the state of the already dilapidated roads.
Mbombela’s informal settlement, Matsafeni, has grown massively in population over the years, but has seen little to no infrastructure development.
Community members have partaken in various protests over the years to demand that the City of Mbombela (CoM) build roads with suitable drainage systems in place.
The recent storms have worsened the issue with some small- to medium-scale flooding eroding graded gravel roads. Some of these dilapidated roads have left community members too exhausted to put up a fight for better road infrastructure, such as Themba Phiri, who said he has struggled to maintain entry to his yard for over three years now.
“Every time there is a storm the whole road is left damaged, and every time I have to use my car I have to maintain the entrance with leftover building materials and bricks. It has become tiring because the CoM has promised to develop roads with drains to channel the water away. We are in need of better service delivery in Matsafeni,” Phiri said.
A vocal community member of Matsafeni, Themba Mahlalela, said a lot of pressure is being put on the municipality to develop the area that was illegally invaded and not planned as a human settlement.
“Of course we are suffering with the bad gravel roads and water running down the streets, but the fact remains that Matsafeni was never designed for people to settle in. This is a farming area,” he said.
“Yes, we built houses illegally with no knowledge of how our houses would turn out. The water floods all over the area in summer and it will cost the municipality millions to formalise the settlement. We are really not in a position to demand.”
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When approached by Mpumalanga News, the City of Mbombela’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said there are plans to uplift Matsafeni in the next financial year.
“The informal settlement has mushroomed at an alarming rate in recent years. This settlement grew without any planning for infrastructure, such as roads and storm-water drains. It has been allowed to develop without regard to streams, floodlines or riparian zones.”
He said there have been blockages in some streams, which has consequently led to damage to property and infrastructure, and possible loss of life.
“The CoM decided to take a holistic approach to address the storm-water problems in Matsafeni. A road and storm-water master plan will be developed for the area to address the challenges. The municipality plans to appoint a specialist consultant for the project during the next financial year.”
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Ngala said the municipality, the Department of Human Settlements and the landowners have started a process to formalise the settlement.
Meanwhile, some community members pled with the municipality to look into some short-term plans, such as grading the main gravel roads.
