Taxi associations fix potholes in Mams
The Mamelodi Almagated Taxi Association identified potholes in Mamelodi that needed to be fixed and bought cement, concrete, and sand to fix the damaged roads.
Local taxi associations have taken it upon themselves to fix potholes around Mamelodi, mainly the taxi routes.
The 4 Plus 1 taxi association executive, joined by others, fixed seven potholes under the operation Thiba Mokoti from Mamelodi East to Mamelodi West on Wednesday, January 17.
Vice-chairman of the association, Nathaniel Thulare, known as Sparks, said the Thiba Mokoti campaign is a continuous drive aimed at preventing damage to their vehicles and those of motorists.
He said they received lots of complaints from taxi drivers and motorists about the bad condition of the roads they were using on a daily basis.
“The taxi owners and motorists complain they are spending a lot of money buying car parts to fix their vehicles and blame the bad condition of the roads,” said Sparks.
Mamelodi Almagated taxi association identified the areas that needed to be fixed and bought cement, concrete, and sand to fix the damaged roads.
Sparks said they understood that it was Tshwane’s responsibility to fix the potholes, but due to the backlog caused by the recent municipal strike, they could not wait for the municipality to fix the roads.
He added that the potholes also caused traffic jams in the morning, because motorists drive slowly into the potholes to avoid damaging their vehicles.
“It hurts us as executives that our drivers spend so much money on parts.”
He said Operation Thiba Mokoti started at 05:00 and ended in the afternoon, and the association spent R1 800 on material.
“Poor service delivery in Mamelodi has led residents to take out their frustrations on the streets by burning tyres, damaging the roads and causing water leaks, which has left us with lots of potholes around,” he said.
Bongani Masilela, spokesperson for the 4 Plus 1, said this was a great initiative. The drivers and owners have been complaining about spending lots of money buying replacement ball joints and side shafts for their vehicles damaged because of potholes.
He said the executive did not take these complaints lightly and took it upon “ourselves to start fixing some of the potholes in Mamelodi, starting with the main roads”.
Masilela said: “Potholes cause congestion and delay our customers to work, and sometimes they cause accidents.
We call on the government to come and see the bad roads and intervene by fixing the roads.”
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