The DA has written to the Mpumalanga MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport, Mandla Ndlovu, asking him and his department to fix – and always maintain the existing road construction equipment as the province cannot afford to buy new ones.
According to the department’s own 2021/2022 Annual Report, 58% of the road construction equipment for the province was in a poor condition due to a lack of maintenance and repairs. This happens while majority of provincial and local roads are dilapidating daily and pose a serious threat to motorists in the province.
This neglect of road construction equipment is concerning taking into consideration that the department revealed recently that Mpumalanga has a huge road maintenance backlog of R26 billion.
Currently, majority of the roads in the province are in a state of disrepair or either:
• Plagued by vast potholes,
• Many roads exceeding their design life,
• Roads being washed away during severe weather in some areas, and these made our provincial road network hazardous to road users.
During the course of this year, the DA conducted numerous oversights to roads like the Dullstroom road, the R50 in Victor Khanye, the R40 from White River to Plaston, and many other roads in and around Emakhazeni and Mbombela. These roads pose a serious threat to motorists and are discouraging tourists to visit the province that desperately needs tourism revenue after the Covid-19 Pandemic. This information was conveyed to the Department.
As their annual Public Works Infrastructure budget is insufficient to stop the current deterioration of our provincial road network and to cater to the R26 billion backlog, MEC Mandla Ndlovu needs to monitor and make sure that his department prioritise the maintenance and repair of the road construction equipment, to ensure present and future damage to provincial road network is mitigated.