Waterdal Road a safety risk despite R174 million spent on upgrades
The Democratic Alliance says the safety of motorists and pedestrians using Waterdal Road in Emfuleni is at risk because the road is in terrible condition and full of potholes.
EMFULENI. – This comes after R174 million was spent on upgrades to the road.
The DA’s constituency head in Emfuleni North, Kingsol Chabalala, says the DA conducted an oversight inspection at Waterdal Road on Thursday, August 10, to assess the state of the road.
“The oversight visit followed written replies from the Gauteng MEC for Roads, Transport, and Logistics, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, stating that the contractors were paid R34 million each for different scopes of work for upgrading the Waterdal Road.
“We were shocked to discover that there is nothing to show for the millions spent on this road. There are huge potholes, no lights or road markings and the tar is damaged.
We also question why all the contractors were paid the same amount of money despite having different scopes of work,” says Chabalala.
Chabalala added that according to MEC Diale-Tlabela, the contractors were paid to conduct correction and surfacing, road marking, sidewalk speed humps, drainage repairs, shoulder repairs, and maintenance.
“Motorists and pedestrians using this road struggle because of dust potholes, resulting in constant accidents being reported,” says Chabalala.
The DA has now demanded that MEC Diale-Tlabela provide a detailed report outlining exactly what each contractor was paid for and the work done.
The opposition party also demands to know what action will be taken against each contractor.
“We will submit follow-up questions to ascertain the owners of the companies who were paid millions to upgrade the road and the reasons behind the shoddy workmanship.
“Emfuleni residents have suffered enough of poor service delivery and demand answers on what happened to their money meant to upgrade Waterdal Road,” concluded Chabalala.
