Youth have taken a chance to earn some money by filling potholes on a busy road in Mthwalume, Turton Road D954, near the Mfundo Arnold Lushaba Community Health Care Centre.
Motorists, businessmen and the public have raised concerns over the deterioration of the D954.
One resident said more potholes open up after heavy rain.
Local businessman, Sifiso Dlamini said the community worked with the IFP ward councillor, Jika Mthethwa not so long ago, to fix the road, however, it keeps getting worse.
Dlamini, a taxi owner said he had to purchase a bigger vehicle, to avoid getting stuck in the potholes.
“I had to pull one of my taxis out of a pothole recently. I also have a distribution company and I have vans that use this road daily to deliver to local taverns. I had to fix a diff and purchase four new wheels for my Mercedes Benz which is now parked at home. Everyone knows that a Mercedes does not come cheap,” said Dlamini.
He added that the Umzumbe Municipality is aware of the problems and has done nothing. Instead, they tell us that the road doesn’t belong to them, but the Department of Transport (DoT).
Sabelo Ncwane, communications manager at Umzumbe Municipality confirmed that the D954 was the responsibility of DoT, however, as a local municipality, it does report the issues to DoT and the district office.
“We had meetings with both DoT and Ugu District Municipality to address the issue of this road. It was resolved that a tender would be advertised for the project, however, I do not know the cause of the delay. DoT is aware of it and it is in the pipeline,” added Ncwane.
Meanwhile, Mfanafuthi Khomo and Zola Mkhonyana said they will continue to fill up the potholes with sand to help motorists, however, they urge the public to give a small token of appreciation, even if it’s just R2.
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