DA blames poor planning for shocking roads

Years of neglect and poor planning have led to the degradation of road infrastructure, according to the DA, which inspected roads in the eThekwini and Johannesburg municipalities last week.

The party took pictures of more than 100 potholes, saying the condition of roads in the two cities was "at a tipping point".

Transport spokesperson Stuart Farrow attributed this to years of neglect and poor planning.

"We focused only on the worst of the worst... If potholes themselves had not yet manifested, the tar was stripping away, there was widespread scarring and significant wear and tear was evident," he said.

In Durban the DA photographed Kenville Road in Umgeni Heights, North East Road, part of the KwaMashu Highway, Dukuzu Road in KwaMashu and Wolraad and Thorn roads in Austerville, which were found to be the worst. According to the report, parts of KwaMashu Highway were "riddled with potholes".

n Dukuzu Road, also in KwaMashu, there was a "huge trench". In Woolraad Road, Austerville, a large section of the road was missing, while in Thorn Road, a huge scar took up a third of the road with a metal water point posing a hazard in the middle of the road.

The issue of potholes was recently put under the spotlight when Hluphile Elda Zuma, 53, sued the government for R1.1-million after she lost an arm in an accident when the taxi she was travelling in hit a pothole on the R33 between Keates Drift and Tugela Ferry in 2004. The case is being heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department head Chris Hlabisa was quoted last month as saying that victims of pothole-related accidents were "ripping off the government". He said that people who sued the government for injuries caused by potholes... were choosing to "milk the government" instead of being grateful for having roads on which to travel.

But Hlabisa on Wednesday denied making such statements, saying he was "unavailable to comment".

The Mercury

Posted at 08:25AM Feb 11, 2010 by Editor in Industry  |  Comments[3]