R3 billion required to fix Limpopo roads

The provincial government will need intervention equalling R3 billion to respond satisfactorily to complaints received about maintenance of roads in the province.
Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure MEC Jerry Ndou on Tuesday met with the Roads Unit Management of the Department of Roads and the Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) to be briefed on community complaints regarding roads infrastructure in the province.
It came to light that RAL and the Department of Roads have received more than 80 complaints regarding roads since 2014/15. To repair and do maintenance on all the roads money is needed, which the department and RAL under the current budget don’t have.
Ndou admitted that roads issues are becoming a major point of concern, especially concerning service delivery protests, which have been seen in some areas where roads are being damaged by protest actions.
“RAL and departmental intervention teams visited Sekhukhune on Monday at GaPhasha after an alarm was raised that there might be problems brewing in the community regarding the condition of roads,” he said.
The meeting agreed to convene an Inter-governmental Infrastructure Summit where all municipalities will be invited to as service deliverers to develop and implement innovative methods of engagement with stakeholders, including the communities.
It was further decided that the three departments, Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, have to meet to discuss pertinent issues relating to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, as some municipalities have to return grant money after failure to utilise it.
The meeting will also look into the issue of District Municipalities ceding some roads to the province and work out a plan to utilise the Infrastructure Grant.
The province is to convene an inter-governmental infrastructure summit towards end of the financial year, which is to include all relevant stakeholders in the social, private and government spheres.
Ndou, who also serves as the Head of the Provincial Rapid Response Team on behalf of the province, will also take the complaints to the infrastructure cluster meeting next week for further discussion and processing.

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
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