N2 Toti repair disagreements displease Parliament
The Parliamentary Committee overseeing flood-disaster relief is dissatisfied with the lack of progress on the N2 highway.
Members of the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery visited the site of the N2 sinkhole in Amanzimtoti on Wednesday, August 24, where they expressed unhappiness that the road has remained unrepaired for months after the April floods.
ALSO READ: New date for N2 repairs
The Amanzimtoti stop was part of the delegation’s three-day oversight visit to the province to assess the progress that has been made since the floods happened.
The committee’s spokesperson, Faith Ndenze, said they noted a glaring lack of progress on the highway due to an ongoing conflict between the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and certain business forums.
“The committee is concerned about the impact of these disagreements on the flow of traffic on the Adams Road part of the N2 freeway. Currently, there is traffic congestion of up to eight kilometres during peak hours,” said Ndeze.
Earlier in August, Sanral’s N2 programme manager, Mabuyi Mhlanga, said the repairs will start in October and finish in December. The new start date was given after an earlier one in July was inexplicably not honoured.
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Ward 97 councillor André Beetge, who was also at the site, said the delays are an inconvenience and unacceptable. “They are a direct result of cronyism, preferential tender awards and sympathetic political favouritism. Until you have experienced delays in getting to work, taking children to school, road rage due to inconsiderate users, or fearing for your life against oncoming traffic, they will not understand what we have to endure,” he said.
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