Residents still awaiting solutions for dangerous road dip on N12
To date, the issue on the N12 highway has not been resolved.
Residents of Harlekyn Street in Reyno Ridge Extension 5 continue to live in fear due to a dangerous road dip on the N12, which has yet to be addressed since it was reported in January.
The dip, which becomes hazardous when rainwater accumulates, causes drivers to lose control and crash into nearby properties.
“This is a tragedy waiting to happen,” said a resident, Carla Holtzhausen, “In the last two years, six cars have gone off the road and crashed into our back wall. Water on the road plus speeding appears to be a cause for disaster.”
Despite efforts to resolve the issue, including contacting two road agencies, residents have not seen any progress. “South African National Road Agency Ltd (Sanral) seems to be the responsible party, and my neighbour is awaiting a call from them, as they also had cars plunging through their back wall. We are left waiting and hoping for a solution,” Holtzhausen told WITBANK NEWS in January.
The situation becomes particularly perilous during rainy weather, “Police and traffic authorities seem indifferent, showing up briefly and then driving away. People often get hurt, but they get removed by their friends, and the explanation is that they’ve been taken to the hospital,” Holtzhausen explained.
Maria Fourie, another resident, said, “We filed a complaint with Sanral, and they got it, but I’m still waiting for a response. It’s a cycle of danger, damage, and frustration.”
The repeated accidents have taken a toll on residents, who face penalties from their insurance companies for frequent claims. The lengthy wait for repairs exposes them to further risks.
“We get penalised by our insurance for claiming so much for the same thing, and for weeks, we must wait for it to be fixed while we get burgled in the meantime. At one stage, we had to hire security, which is not cheap, to stand watch at the gap in the wall,” Holtzhausen added.
In January, WITBANK NEWS reached out to Sanral and spoke to Mr Thabo Gwebu, who said they had received an email about the issue and had submitted it to the appropriate authorities for swift action. However, he could not confirm a specific time frame for addressing the problem.
Residents are still waiting for a solution, and Fourie added, “To this day, the problem on the N12 highway has not been resolved. It feels like the problem is just being forwarded to another department because they don’t want to make it their own. Or are they going to wait until something like this happens again and someone may be seriously or fatally injured?”
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