The conditions of the roads are seemingly still a pain in the neck for residents of Randfontein who say that the municipality’s efforts to finally patch up the roads are just not enough.
“Despite fixing these potholes with tar instead of the infamous red sand, I must say that we are still finding it difficult driving around,” says one motorist.
“This is because although the correct material was used, the roads have not been leveled properly.
These fixed roads are so uneven that they’re nearly as bad as when they were full of potholes.
“The fact of the matter is that Randfontein roads have exceeded their life span and patching them instead of resurfacing them is just not good enough,” says the man.
He adds that the biggest contributing factor to the detetoriating state of the roads are the trucks that travel throughout town.
“Lets face it, our roads are not thick enough to carry the loads of these trucks.
“As a result, the tar wears off quickly and the potholes start reappearing all over again.”
The Herald has approached Randfontein Local Municipality spokesperson Lucky Chiya who says that the municipality is doing its best at this point and hopes that the roads will be repaired by the end of April should the weather conditions be favourable.
“We are really trying our best to fix the roads throughout town and this cannot be done simutaneously.
“We have a schedule that we are following in order of importance and if all goes well, we should be done with the repairs by the end of April,” says Chiya.
Asked on the issue of resurfacing the roads instead of merely patching the potholes, Chiya says that this would be an expensive procedure however the municipality will look into it.
“This is a democratic country and we welcome input from our residents and critism where necessary.
“However, at this stage, fixing the potholes is an immediate mechanism in order to avert the problem that our residents are currently faced with.
“It goes without saying that resurfacing the road will require a lot of money and for that we will need support from the relevant department in the province and this will cause some road closures for some time,” says Chiya.
In the meantime, motorists will have to settle for a fairly bumpy ride, even on roads where the potholes have been filled.
Click here to see photos of the condition of local roads.
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