POLOKWANE – Polokwane Municipality is set to combat the challenge of potholes with a new fleet consisting of its own staff and contractors, making use of a newly acquired yellow fleet.
Mayor John Mpe last Thursday led from the front when he took charge of a wheelbarrow and tools to assist workers from the municipality and a contractor filling potholes in Marmer Street.
Mpe also tested his skills in operating one of the recently purchased compactors to level some filling that was deposited into the potholes.
Mpe explained that the repair of potholes is a huge challenge in the municipal area.
“All the older tarred roads in the municipality are susceptible to damage when it rains and this places a huge burden on the municipality’s available workforce and equipment. We have therefore decided to extend our yellow fleet and tackle the challenge in a team effort with contractors. We cannot do it alone. It is a war that we are fighting and we need dedicated soldiers, equipment and strategy to succeed,” Mpe explained and added that future budgets of the municipality will make provision for the extension of capacity in this area.
Mpe appealed to the public to report potholes to the municipality’s responsible strategic business unit, to ensure that these are attended to and also that the places where repairs have been done, are properly restored and rubble carted away before jobs are signed off.
Read more: Potholes across Polokwane are being attended to – Municipality
On the same day, Mpe also handed a grader to the community of Mmakata Village in Ga-Molepo.
“We know that this is not big, but it shows our community our intention to improve their living conditions and road infrastructure.
“We want each cluster to have its own yellow fleet and it is our intention to have at least one road project in each and every cluster by next year,” Mpe announced.
